


Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

by DigitalMess90



Series: Darker Side of Hell [3]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor is in Hell for a Reason (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust Being Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Death, Delusions, Depression, Drinking, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Horny Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Imaginary Friends, Lesbian Sex, M/M, Mild Language, Nudity, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Rape/Non-con Elements, Relationship(s), Self-Harm, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:53:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 111,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22663537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalMess90/pseuds/DigitalMess90
Summary: Follow the third story arc of my Darker side of hell, Niffty starts having trouble separating reality from fantasy, Angel's trying to figure out how to get his feelings across and Vaggie has a hard time accepting Charlie's new working partner, that causes undue stress on the princess, her problems have only just started.
Relationships: Alastor & Niffty (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Charlie Magne/Vaggie
Series: Darker Side of Hell [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625494
Comments: 448
Kudos: 244





	1. Dirty

Niffty woke up already feeling filthy, dirty, contaminated. She had to wash her hands first, always that first. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. It had to be three times, it just had to be, it couldn’t be anything else. 

Now the day could begin, her room was small, featuring only a single bed, with an accompanying small chest of drawers for clothes. Small was good, Less chance for mess and her room could never be messy, Niffty would never allow it. Taking off her Nightshirt she promptly folded it into a neat square and placed it on a washing pile that was ready to go. 

Small hands moved over her bed and tucked it in, neat, tidy and straight. She had slept in it for two nights now, she could get another nights sleep in, but then she had to change the bedding, three nights only, but it did mean that tonight was date night and that made her smile. After getting dressed it was time to start. Picking up the neat pile of dirty laundry she headed out to the wash room.

A Large series of washers and dryers lined the walls with a few wash basins for anything that would require hand cleaning. It was early and Niffty was first there, she was always first, and had pick of the units. This room was for guests and live-in staff to do their clothes washing. A separate nearby room handed all the hotel bedding and towels, that was her next destination to get her supplies. Opening the round door she put her washing inside and turned on for a spin cycle, closing the door she felt something in the palm of her hand, turning her hand over it looked like the last user had left something sticky on the inside of the washing machine door handle. 

_ Viscous, Clinging, sticky. _

Her hand shook as her heart raced, and she spun round and rushed straight to a basin, tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Heartbeat slowing she exhaled loudly. 

Now it was time to make sure all the bigger units were ready, she made sure they had the soap set in them to exactly the right amount, and within a couple of hours they would be whirring away with all the bedding and towels of the day. Opening a series of cupboards she grabbed a cloth quickly, wetting it and rushing back to clean the source of the sticky stain that offended her so, scrubbing hard it disappeared quick.

“Oh gosh I better not be late!” She grabbed the laundry cart, loaded it with fresh sets of towels and bedding and hurried over to the reception. Husk wasn’t at his post even though he was now late, too early she supposed for him to even try to manage what would be another morning hangover. She grabbed a copy of the register sheet to see which rooms would need attending to and a master key. 

She didn’t need the sheet straight away, she knew exactly where she would be going first. Up the elevator three floors, down two corridors, one left turn followed by a right and the far door on the left side. She looked down at herself, straightened her skirt, and promptly knocked exactly three times. A moment passed before she heard footsteps and her heart fluttered. 

_ He’s still in his room. I didn’t miss him. _

Alastor opened the door and looked down to see an excitable as ever Niffty.

“Good morning, my dear Niffty.”

_ Handsome, dapper, graceful. _

_ “ _ Good morning boss! Here to change bedding and towels!” Alastor moved to one side to let the little demon in.

“You don’t need to refer to me as boss any more Niffty, we’re all working for the same soul now. Alastor will do fine.”

“You’ll always be my boss, no matter what Charlie says!” Alastor ignored the comment and continued.

“Since I'm staying here until further notice, I really don't think you need to change this daily Niffty.” Niffty laughed a shrill happy laugh.

“Of course I do! You deserve the best, so it’s the least I can do for you!”

_ Anything for you. _

Alastor shrugged and moved away from the door sitting down in a chair he pulled out a book and continued reading. Niffty began stripping the half made bed and got to the best part of her day. With the sheets being pulled off, she always got a waft of Alastor’s scent, she loved the way he smelt and savoured it. 

“So, Boss what are you reading?” Niffty was asking whilst putting on a fresh new set of bedding, and making it sharp and neat. Alastor didn’t look up, but did answer.

“An infernal tome, regarding the eternal suffering of man, it’s an interesting read, recommended by someone. He said it was something I might get on with.” Niffty cooed 

“That’s nice... who suggested it?” 

“Angel Dust.”

“Oh, didn’t think he did much reading?” Niffty was fairly surprised. She hadn’t known that Angel and Alastor were ‘recommend a book’ close.

“He doesn’t, but he knows I enjoy it, so he suggested something.” Niffty just hummed a response as she finished up with the bed and moved to collect the towels. They were still slightly damp, Alastor must have showered this morning. She couldn’t help but smile as she gripped them tighter.

“All done, boss!” She packed up the dirty things and put them away. “I’ll see you later, or tomorrow morning!”

“I’m sure you will, Niffty” The door was shut again leaving Niffty alone in the corridor. Now her heart rate could return to normal.

_ Maybe, You’ll be my Infernal prince… Someday.  _

She sighed wistfully again and checked what rooms she would need to do today. 

***

Charlie woke up to being gently rocked in bed, her hair was being stroked too.

“Mmmm...” Somewhere in the distance she could her Vaggie gently calling to her.

“Charlie, time to get up.” Why would she want to do that? It was so warm and comfy here. She snuggled down into the bed. That was quickly ruined as the bedding was torn off her. She flailed tried to find the where the blanket had gone, failed to located it, shivered and curled up pouting. 

“...Vaggie… Cold...” Her pout was broken when Vaggie’s warm arms wrapped around Charlie, and she planted a few kisses around the base of her neck. 

“Come on, Charlie if you hurry you can still join me in the shower.” Charlie grumbled again but Vaggie was already gone and the sound of a shower started. 

“Oh fine” She yawned and stretched, padding over to the bathroom, she was grateful for all the hot steam rising, Charlie loved a hot shower. Opening the shower door she was quick to hop in so water didn’t spray everywhere. 

“Charlie, can you do my back?” Vaggie wet hair was pressing down on her, but she separated it over her shoulders exposing her grey back and handed Charlie a sponge. Charlie feigned indignation as she ‘glared’ at Vaggie.

“This is the only reason you wanted me to get up, isn’t it?” Vaggie laughed softly

“... Maybe, its hard with my hair in the way!” Charlie faked a huge sigh and started washing down her back.

“You owe me for this!” Charlie laughed, unable to keep a straight face any longer. “Got any big business today Vaggie?” 

“Not for me hun, I’m looking after a couple of group sessions, just business as usual, you?” Charlie paused for a moment,

“Err, yeah… I’ve got a meeting with Alastor.” Despite the hot water everywhere Vaggie seemed to freeze over.

“You know I don’t like it when you meet him alone…” Charlie smile dropped a fraction.

“I know baby, I’m being careful, but he’s been true to his word… it’s okay he’s being really helpful.” Vaggie reached behind and stopped Charlie washing her back, she turned to look at her.

“I just don’t trust that he isn't going to try to hurt you again!”

“...Vaggie, he isn’t! You know what my dad would do to him.” Vaggie frowned and shook her head.

“He almost killed you! What if he just doesn’t care? What if he finally does it? You think I’ll be comforted knowing that your dad will take care of it? If you’re gone, what comfort is that?… I can’t think about loosing y-” Charlie pressed herself up against the grey worried beauty, and hugged her tightly.

“It’s not going to happen like that Vaggie! I’ve got too much to live for, you just watch, it would take a hundred Alastor’s to stop me coming back for you! Don’t worry!”

“... But Charlie I am worried…” Charlie lent in and kissed her.

“I love you for watching out for me, but I’ve got this, trust me?” Vaggie returned the kiss.

“Okay…” She still felt uneasy. Charlie smiled and pressed the sponge back into Vaggie’s hand.

“It’s your turn now!” Charlie turned to her back and laughed, Vaggie sighed.

***

First the groan, then the stretching of the limbs, oops! Pushed a bottle off the bed, and the clang it made as it hit other bottles made his ears ring.

“Fuck, not so loud!” Angel mumbled as he opened a bleary eye and sat up, head splitting. This was one hell of a hangover. Unsteady, he managed to limp his way over to a mirror and inspected the damage. Make up a mess, clothes stained with booze… maybe. What was this, a matted patch of his hair hung limp to one side. Touching it with one of his hands he groaned.

“Fuckin’ jizz” It was one hell of a night, and he had certainly earned some cash… that he had then spent that night on angel-dust, his namesake. He couldn’t remember but hoped he had some left over, he doubted it but hope sprung eternally when it came to his drugs. 

Getting his clothes off he kicked them to one side and got in the shower, did it have to be so loud? He groaned again getting a healthy blob of shampoo in 4 of his hands, he washed his entire body quickly before applying conditioner.

_ Need to keep that fur silky soft.  _

Getting out the hot water had him suddenly light-headed, and he had to unceremoniously dash over to the toilet and wretched up into it. 

“Ugh… What a fucking night” rinsing out with water he spat it into the basin, swallowing would cost extra he would tell himself and get a smile every time. Staggering back into his room he rummaged around and found a half drunk bottle of whatever this spirit was that he had swiped from the bar last night, taking a swig he felt better for it. Can’t get a hangover if you’re never sober.

That thought triggered something in his cloudy mind. Reaching over he opened his hellphone and loaded into his calendar.

“Oh… fuuuuuck” In exactly thirty minutes he had a sobriety group with Vaggie attending. Well he certainly wasn’t going to show up to that, but he couldn’t hide out in his room, it wouldn’t be the first time Vaggie had kicked down his door to drag him off.

“I need to fuckin’ lie low somewhere… Smiles!” Alastor has sheltered him in the past so it's time to ask for another favour. Stumbling to the door he looked down and realized he still hadn’t got any clothes on.

“Oops! Can’t just show the goods for free.” He quickly grabbed and put on some clothes that weren’t that dirty and got out, he hoped that he wouldn’t run into Vaggie on his way over. 

  
  


***

A frantic knock on Alastor’s door intrigued him, it certainly wasn’t Charlie, whilst their meetings were always civil. Its not like she was excited to talk business with him. Putting his book down he moved towards the door and opened it. Angel was on the other side, attempting to look smooth but still glancing rapidly down the corridor as if someone would find him at any moment. 

“Angel, what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Angel was already moving into his room. Apparently no one bothered to ask to come in any more. Alastor blurted out a small amount of radio static annoyance. 

“Sorry Smiles! Its just I think Vaggie is gunna come looking for me soon, I figure last place she’d come is to see you. I’m hanging bad, and I can't think of anything worse right now than listening to sober people talk about being sober.” Angel shuddered, before dramatically collapsing onto Alastor’s freshly made bed. 

“ Well just make yourself at home then!” The sarcasm should have been evident, apparently not. 

“Mmm, thanks” Angel pulled in a pillow and hugged it. Alastor shook his head before sitting back down and continuing to read, hopefully if Angel is fragile enough he’ll be quiet and let him get on with it. 

“Watcha readin?” Alastor sighed again, there goes that then, 

“The book you suggested…”

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d get it so quickly I only mentioned that I saw it and thought you might like it…” Alastor put down the book, again.

“I don’t have a lot else to do. Now, do I?”

“... You could come out partyin’ with me one night, it’ll be fun!” 

“You know I don’t enjoy that Angel... I used to enjoy hunting souls…” He sighed and a static burst slipped out. In truth, it had been a very long time since he had slaughtered anyone, what with the deal he had made with Charlie to stay on good behaviour and the threat that Lucifer would get him if he broke his word.

Sure he could have gone out far from the hotel and picked off a few quiet loners, but the whole thing was tame if he couldn’t torment and play with his prey first. So now in his spare time Alastor devoted more time to reading. 

Angel rolled over again and moaned. 

“I’m gunna catch a few Z’s hopefully sleep this off.” Alastor paid no mind and picked up his book for the third time, hopefully he would get somewhere now. 

*Knock knock* 

He almost tore the book in half.

“Who is it!?” The female voice on the other side made Angel’s eye’s snap open.

“It’s Charlie… we have a meeting, had you forgotten?” Angel started frantically waving his arms around as Alastor stood up.

“Of course not, just making myself presentable.” Alastor leaned in to Angel who had started whispering.

“Charlie can’t see me here! She’ll tell Vaggie! You didn’t say you had her comin’ round!” Alastor smiled.

“You never asked.” Angel groaned, 

“Well... what am I suppose to do now?” Alastor shrugged as he stood up and started moving towards the door.

Angel slid off the bed, and groaning hid under it.

“This is gunna fuckin’ suck” Although it did bring back memories… That one time some dude’s wife had come home early, and he had to hide until they had fallen asleep. Or any time his dad would come home drunk.

Alastor opened the door and there was Charlie, looking slightly awkward. Alastor grinned.

“Please come in, care for a drink?”

“Err, no I’m fine thank you, Alastor” She stepped past him, and he closed the door. All their meetings lasted a couple of hours, Angel was in for a terrible time. 

***

Niffty finally got back to her room, it was late, and she was tired. Her hands were full of a tray that contained a glass and a plate of food. She preferred to eat in her room. She ate incredibly slowly, always so careful not to miss or spill anything, she was used to the mockery but it was just easier to eat by herself. Although tonight she wouldn’t be alone.

Getting in she put the tray down on her bed, and pulled out a small box from under her bed. Opening it she took out a tall candle with matching candle stick, she lit it with a match that she also pulled out the box and placed it on her chest of drawers. She turned off her lights and looked over the now dimly candle lit room.

_ Amorous, passionate, romantic!  _

Date night was almost ready, she took a pillow and a separate pillowcase out of the box along with a photo and a zip lock bag. She placed the items on the bed, just needed to wash her hands before eating. They were starting to itch.

Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

Sitting cross-legged she placed the pillow opposite her and rested the photo of Alastor upon it. Pulling the plate towards her she started to slowly and carefully eat. Alastor wasn't hungry today and politely declined the meal, but had insisted that Niffty eat, he would happily just watch and chat, no matter how long it took her to finish.

“Oh Boss, you’re so courteous, thoughtful, considerate!” She put her fork down for a moment as she looked at the photo.

“Sorry, I mean A-Alastor,” She whispered out his name and giggled. Alastor had of course asked about her day, he always took the time to ask.

“It was okay, I don’t get why so many people get shouty when I try to get into their rooms, don’t they know they need to be cleaned? You always let me in... But I suppose they can’t all be as wonderful as you.” She smiled at the resting photo and blushed.

“No, don’t say things like that, I’m just a nobody! You’re the remarkable, extraordinary, impressive one!” Niffty had to look away, Alastor had always been a smooth talker. 

“I just wish Vaggie would let me do my job! She’s always telling me I can't bother guests, or can't hoover at night!… When am I suppose to do it?! The hotel is always getting filthy! I know I wouldn’t get this with you in charge… you understand me, you’ve always understood me!”

This continued for the next hour whilst she ate, talking to Alastor and his always ready responses that made her heart lighter. It was nice to share problems with someone so caring. She put her plate neatly down away from her and took a small sip from her glass. She looked back at the photo and her heart lurched, he was giving her that look... 

“Gosh you really know how to make a lady feel special,” she climbed back onto the bed and stared at the photo, hand reaching for her zip locked bag.

“I’ve been really selfish, just talking your ear off… maybe I need to make you feel special too?” she took her scarf off and folded it neatly before placing on the floor by the bed, she flushed with red as she felt Alastor’s eyes watching her as she took the off her top and slid her skirt off. Folded neatly placed next to the scarf, and finally she paused before bending over to give him a full view and slid her underwear down her ankles. 

“Alastor! That’s so naughty!” Niffty exclaimed, the mouth on the radio demon could make her blush something fierce when he wanted to. She climbed back onto the bed, heart pounding in her chest. 

“You want me to…? Of course! Could you just wash up first please? You’re the best, outstanding, perfect!” She laid back on the bed, and scrunched the empty pillowcase in one hand and grabbed her dildo out the bag, average sized and width but a dark red. She waited for Alastor to finish washing up and listened to him approach, she could hear him unbuckling, She closed her eye tight and pressed the pillow case to face and breathed.

Niffty could smell him and opened her mouth as his member gently touched her lips. He was already so erect, Niffty shuddered, the thought that she could do that to him, drove excited thoughts into her mind. 

She kissed and licked the tip before taking it into her mouth, Alastor was gently gripping her hair, she moaned softly, and she bobbed up and down, working the shaft. She inhaled deeply again getting another wash of Alastor’s smell, as he gyrated his hips slowly, clearly he was enjoying it. 

It was getting Niffty excited too, she yearned to feel Alastor’s touch down on her, She wouldn’t touch her wet entrance herself, it got her hands dirty, she hated that, but Alastor could! It was just a shame he was enjoying Niffty’s mouth too much to do anything else.

Niffty gagged slightly as it brushed the back of her throat, she pushed Alastor off and took a deep breath before going back down and gagging again for him. He was clearly calling out her name, Niffty shuddered again at the validation, that she was pleasing him so. 

Alastor was pulling away, Niffty gasped in some more air. He was moving down clearly he wanted to feel her hips around him. His tip gently pressed its way against her, she moaned.

“G-gently… please…” Alastor was always a gentle lover when she asked for it, His length slowly slid its way inside earning a quiet cry from Niffty. She had always hated noisy ‘screamers’ but her soft breath was hard in her chest as she called out Alastor’s name as he found a gentle rocking pace inside her. 

Another inhale, she could smell his hair as he rested his arms either side of her head. She wanted to reach out and touch his chest but the pleasure she was feeling caused her one free hand to just grab hold of the bed. As her body tensed up, she was about to climax, with her eye still shut tight she called out.

“I love you!” 

Then everything was still, she enjoyed the afterglow before finally removing the pillowcase and sitting up, she smiled and glanced at the photo one last time before heading over to the bathroom, she washed and dried the red rubber Alastor, put it away in the zip lock bag. The pillow and photo went in the box, and she blew out the candle. Packed it all away, and back under the bed. Putting on a fresh nightshirt, she only had one thing left to do before bed.

Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

  
  



	2. Just a walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor leaves the hotel for a walk and Charlie hates arguments.

After their meeting had ended, Alastor had shown Charlie to the door, smiled and bid her farewell. As soon as the door was shut again he heard the groan come from underneath his bed as Angel shifted back into view.

“I changed my mind, The sober fuckers would have been better than that! How long can you talk about advertisements? Fuck me!” He flinched “Well not, literally, you...you know what I mean!” Angel turned away and looked at a wall.

_ … Why is this so fuckin’ awkward _

“Do I need to remind you that Radio advertisements, happen to be a speciality of mine? I had a lot of expertise to offer.” Alastor looked at Angel as he took a seat back down in his chair, Angel seemed almost upset by this.

“Smiles, do you do anything nowadays apart from read and sit in that fuckin’ thing!” He pointed at the chair. “When was the last time you went out?” Alastor shook his head.

“I don’t frequent bars often Angel…” 

“I don’t mean like that! Just out, anywhere!... Look just come for a walk with me,” He raised his hands as Alastor had started to shake his head.

“Not, drinking, fuckin’ hell, come on Smiles, it will do you good.” Alastor glanced down at his book, looks like that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“Fine. If it means you’ll stop pestering me.” Angel grinned,

“That’s the spirit Smiles, let’s go now before Vaggie sees me”

***

Charlie opened the door to her room, notebook clutched to her chest, Alastor had been very helpful, plus with him seemingly following the rules she had set for him, it really made her think that perhaps in some weird, stupid way, he would be the one to turn himself around. The thought sounded silly but it still lingered in her head. She smiled.

“... Had a good time?” Vaggie was sat on their bed, arms crossed and was scowling. Charlie's smile faltered.

“Have you had a bad morning or something? What’s wrong?” 

“Angel didn’t fucking turn up to the sobriety group again, pretty sure he’s getting drunk daily… So how’s the shitlord?” Charlie rolled her eyes.

“Come on Vaggie, Alastor has a name… Look I get it! But I'm trying to move past it too, so can you try to be a tiny bit nicer?" The scowl didn’t shift.

_ Guess not… _

She lifted the notebook and showed it to Vaggie, 

“Look, these are all the things we talked about getting more interest to the hotel!” 

“Great Charlie, it looks great.” Didn’t sound like there was a touch of sincerity to her comment. Charlie walked over and sat on the bed, she tried to make eye contact but Vaggie turned her head to the other side. So instead she rested her head on Vaggie’s shoulder and wrapped an arm round her middle.

“You asked me to open up more with you, can you try the same please? I want to discuss this and not just get stonewalled.” Vaggie seemed to huff, Charlie had her with that one, she finally spoke,

“I’m just worried that he’s going to start giving you bad advice, under the pretence of good advice! I still think he’s going to try to get at you!” 

“Well what would you have me do?”

“Just get rid of him! Tell him to leave!”

“Vaggie, I can’t do that, you know he hasn’t done anything wrong, I can’t just kick him out!” Vaggie snapped back.

“He hasn't done anything wrong, yet!”

“Vaggie, that’s not fair on him!” Vaggie pushed herself away from Charlie’s hug and stood up.

“Fair on him?! Hun, he was the one, who blackmailed you into hurting yourself! Who was that fair on? He was the one, who made you lie to me about it!” A small prickly anger spread across Charlie’s face.

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Vaggie eye went wide.

“Charlie! I’m not saying that! I don’t trust him not to try to twist your way of thinking.”

“Oh, because I’m SO weak willed?” Charlie was getting annoyed now. Vaggie shook her head.

“No, Charlie I didn’t mean it like that!” Charlie stood up too,

“Look I don’t like him, but I can at least be nice enough about it! Of course I don't like him! But at least he’s giving me ideas on how to improve this place. I was going to try to go through them with you, but I guess if it comes from Alastor, you’ll just turn them down!... I’m, I’m going out!” 

Charlie stormed out and slammed the door behind her, leaving Vaggie feeling deflated, she had real trouble getting her feelings across, and she just trampled all over that conversation. 

“... I’m just worried about you.” 

She sighed, Vaggie would let Charlie cool off, and then apologies later, she still thought she was right though.

***

“So… Smiles you think Charlies idea is ever gunna work?” Angel was trying to make conversation as the two of them walked outside. With no real destination they had wandered around for a good thirty minutes and were now heading back to the hotel. 

Whilst, they hadn’t talked much the air was starting to get a little to heavy for Angel’s taste, even if it meant uninspired small talk. 

“I don’t think so, although it would be best not to tell Charlie that, she gets defensive.” Angel sniggered.

“Tell me about it! She defends that dream of hers like a mother panther, I dunno, I mean we’re all here for a reason right? We weren’t good before, so why change now?” Alastor nodded.

“That’s what I said when I first offered my help.”

“Yeah, I mean you get it! Do you thi-” Angel was cut off by a cat call from a shark looking demon.

“Hey, BABY! How much for a fuck?” Angel turned and smiled at the shouting demon.

“Ooh, I’d love to big boy, but I'm not available right now, sorry schnookums!” 

“What the fuck, When did a whore get to be so picky? What’s that pinstripe paying? I’ll double it!” Angel went to open his mouth but Alastor had already fallen on the demon who shrieked out at the speed at which the radio demon could move. 

Alastor threw him halfway down a nearby alleyway and approach with a wickedly sharp grin over his face. 

“You know, just because we’re in hell doesn’t mean you can’t have some manners… It’s impolite to interrupt someone.”

The demon tried to scramble to his feet, to start running. He had started something he couldn’t finish, and Alastor was going to punish him for it. Catching up easily, he tripped the fool before placing clawed hands either side of its face, prising open its jaws and with one swift move he removed the creatures tongue, blood now gurgling in its mouth. Alastor released his grasp and allowed the creature to flee.

“Hope you learned something” he discarded the tongue to one side and walked out the Alley to a surprised looking Angel. 

“Alastor, you didn’t need to do that, I had it covered!” The radio demon looked at him,

“He was bothering you… and me.”

“Smiles, I’m used to it, comes with my work... have to deal with fans and creeps all the time…”

“Then I don’t understand how you have the patience to put up with it.” Angel swallowed, 

“I err, just do?” Was that a compliment or Alastor just musing, it was hard to tell. Angel continued,

“Yeah but what about that no ‘butchering’ people thing, you’re supposed to be followin?” Alastor laughed.

“Are you going to tell Charlie? I don’t think he will be…” Angel laughed too and ran his fingers across his lips like a zip.

“Not a word.” Angel hadn’t had someone defend him like that in a long time… maybe Alastor was just looking for an excuse to hurt someone, still Angel kind of liked the idea that Alastor was watching out for him.

***

Getting back to the hotel, Angel was the first to notice Charlie sat down on the pavement outside looking down. 

“Hey Charlie!” Angel waved, Charlie’s head snapped up, and she put on a smile for the two demons approaching.

“O-oh, Hey Angel...Alastor, you two went out? Angel almost flinched.

“Just a walk! I thought that Smiles could do with some fresh air… Anyway! What’s got you so down in the dumps? Someone eatin’ a bunch of puppies again?” Charlie seemed to fidget. 

“No… It’s just Vaggie isn’t too keen on discussing advertisement plans for the hotel.” Angel laughed.

“Ooo! Trouble in paradise?” Alastor’s eye’s flashed as he stared at Charlie, his grin tightened. Charlie laughed softly and shook her head.

“No, no nothing like that, we’re just disagreeing on something, nothing major!” Alastor’s static whizzed overhead, just before he started speaking.

“I would presume, I’m the subject of this contention?” Charlie said nothing but her lack of eye contact told Alastor all it needed. The itch to meddle was back, he had to steady himself but just couldn’t resist a ‘harmless’ comment.

“Would it be best if I talk to her? Apologies?” Charlie’s eyes quickly snapped round to Alastor.

“No Alastor!, You’re fine, you haven’t got anything to be sorry for!” Alastor held his hands up.

“Well if you think it would help just let me know,” Walking past, Charlie smiled at him

“Thanks… Alastor.” Angel, catching up to Alastor stopped briefly by Charlie

“You commin’ in Toots?” Charlie shook her head.

“No, I’m just going to sit here for a bit… I’ll see you guys later.” Angel shrugged and left. Once inside Alastor had turned to Angel.

“Thank you for the walk, it was good to stretch the limbs out.” Angel smiled and tried not to go red in the face.

“See Smiles! It’s good for you… maybe we could do this again sometime?”

“Maybe” Well that wasn’t a no. They parted ways and Angel watched Alastor head towards the stairs, he sighed before stopping himself.

“The fuck is wrong with me?” 

***

Charlie had passed Niffty at the end of the day, It always made Charlie a little sad that Niffty chose to eat alone every night. Although right now she might have preferred that, she was standing outside her door trying to work up the courage to just go in.

She didn’t want to have another argument, she didn’t want to get upset or upset Vaggie. Finally, she took in a deep breath and opened the door. Vaggie was waiting for her and moved quickly over to Charlie, she braced but let out a gasp of surprise as Vaggie pulled her into a tender embrace. 

“I’m sorry I upset you.” Vaggie whispered into Charlie’s hair. “I’m just frustrated, I wasn’t fair to you.” 

“Vaggie…” Their eyes met and Charlie gently moved Vaggie’s face with her hand and gave her a soft kiss. 

“So hun, anything you want me to do to make it up to you?” Vaggie was smiling suggestively at Charlie who giggled. 

“Promise you’ll wake me up tomorrow with a surprise!” Vaggie Kissed her cheek.

“Promise” 

“And I don’t mean being cold again!” 

  
  



	3. Potential Exploitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor starts to fall back into old habits, Charlie has a good Morning and Angel is confused.

“Fuck, Vaggie!” Charlie was gasping hard, her hands were gripping Vaggie’s hair trying to hold her head in place in-between her thighs. This was a good morning. Charlie cried out again as Vaggie tongue flicked over a particularly sensitive area before kissing down. Vaggie’s hand were either side of Charlie’s hips and were gently squeezing. 

Charlie writhed in delight as her partner’s tongue slid over her once more before dipping inside. 

“You’re so good to me! Fuuuuuck!” She buckled and Vaggie had started to moan too. A fire was burning in Charlie’s torso, yet she was missing something,

“Vaggie, S-Stop!” The grey skinned beauty pulled back straight away, still panting looked up at Charlie.

“What’s w-wrong?” 

“I need you here!” Vaggie answered by placing kisses up her naval and over Charlie’s rapidly rising and falling chest. Charlie met her mouth hungrily and ran her hands over Vaggie, rubbing up and down her legs. Charlie’s own fingers moved their way around and slid inside Vaggie, curling around, they moved with the tempo of their grinding bodies. 

Vaggie cried out and clawed at Charlie’s shoulders running her fingernails down her pale skin leaving a trail of raised red, Charlie let out a hiss of pleasure and kissed her again, using her free hand she dragged Vaggie’s hand lower, Vaggie followed the prompt and started finger fucking the screaming blonde. 

This frantic pace only lasted for another minute before Charlie was crying out Vaggie’s name as she climaxed hard, completely tensing up and going very red in the face. A lot of passionate kissing and a few shoulder nibbles got Vaggie there too, she grabbed Charlie’s shoulders and cried out.

“Fuuuuck, Charlie!” She just panted and clutched onto Charlie, every nerve was alight. They shared another long kiss as they steadied their breathing and Vaggie rolled off to the side and wrapped her arms and legs around Charlie. 

“...we’re going to be late if we stay in bed much longer.” 

Charlie nuzzled into her Vaggie’s hair, and hummed.

“Just five more minutes of this please?” Vaggie kissed Charlie’s shoulder.

“Okay hun, but only five.”

***

The regular knock on the door got Alastor up, revealing, like clockwork, a very excitable Niffty. 

“Morning, boss, Clean towels and bedding!” She seemed chirpier than usual as Alastor let her pass. Taking a seat back down he watched her zip around and pause momentarily as she pulled off his old bedsheets, a waft of air disturbing her hair. 

“You seem a little more animated this morning?” Alastor was peering at her with a forming curiosity. 

“Of course Boss! How can I not be? After such a wonderful date with y-.” She seemed to momentarily freeze “-ummy food... I had a delicious dinner, puts me in a great mood…” 

“Oh?” Alastor was leaning forward in his chair, this had enraptured his full interest, she seemed flustered and worried. Niffty quickly moved into the bathroom to collect the towels, and more importantly she could avoid Alastor’s gaze.

_ Stupid, Idiot, Moron. _

Her hands twitched, she moved straight to the sink.  Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Turning back to get the towel out of the room she jumped, Alastor was standing in the doorway. 

His smile always made her heart flutter but it seemed so much more intense, as he just stood there. 

“Something troubling you?” Alastor was always kind and thoughtful, Niffty felt a blush starting, she shook her head.

“No boss, just needed to clean my hands… W-well looks like I've got everything, so I’ll see you later, or tomorrow?” She smiled at him and went to move past. Alastor was reaching up to adjust his bow-tie and his hand just happened to brush the top of Niffty’s hair as she passed, she shuddered ever so slightly and Alastor’s grin grew fiercer.

“Oh I’m sure you will Niffty, I’m sure you will…” She looked up at him from outside his room after putting his dirty laundry away, unsure of how to respond her heart was hammering away in her chest.

“H-have a good day!” She smiled, waved and started to leave, Alastor lingered a look before shutting the door. 

“Should I?... It might make for a fun distraction… The deal was no mind games… does it count?” He pondered whilst pacing the room. Perhaps it was time to find a new distraction just like Angel had suggested. 

***

Angel was moaning in bed, three of his hands were rubbing up and down his chest, the forth steadily working up and down his shaft. Even when alone he was still a performer, from the exaggerated lip bite all the way he wiggled his thighs to gently rub against each other. He closed his eyes as his pace increased, he could feel it getting closer, and Angel enjoyed holding it back as long as possible.

Then a familiar face and slim build came swimming into his mind, what if that was Alastor’s hand was on him right now? Touching and stroking Angel’s dick. The image took him completely by surprise, and it wasn’t an unpleasant one. Angel moaned loudly as he came, thick ropey strands landing on his stomach. 

“The fuck was that about?” He looked down, “Shit…” Carefully shimmying out of bed he headed straight for the shower, hopefully that would clear his head, it didn’t, and he just stood there scrubbing whilst wondering if he would ever walk in on Alastor showering… he shook his head hard,

“Get it together Angel!” These thoughts weren’t new, but they were getting more frequent, even simple things like going for a walk, having a meal… holding hands. Angel sighed and cupped his hands to his face, he was crushing hard on a demon that has murdered more creatures than Angel has slept with, and that's saying a lot. 

If only Alastor had simply leered at him like everyone else, this would never have happened, but he had to act aloof around Angel and it just peaked his curiosity about the radio demon, that handsome face, those intense eyes… that slim build and what must lie underneath. Angel twitched as he had already started to get another semi.

“Least I’m in the shower for this one.” Hopefully this would be the last time before he left his room. He tried to keep Alastor out of his mind, tried to… didn’t succeed. 

***

It was late at night when Alastor finally decided to move, he stalked a pace down the corridors, it was quiet, good, although he wasn't doing anything wrong… yet. He didn’t want to be disturbed. Outside of Niffty’s room he was about to melt into the shadows and slip under her door.

_ No entering someone’s room without an invitation _

He couldn’t work his way around that one, for now he just listened quietly at the door, it seems Niffty was talking to someone. 

“-retty Intense today, No! Please don’t apologies, it was me, I didn’t think you would pay that much attention…”

Alastor listened carefully but no response was ever given and Niffty continued. 

“You know that’s how I feel, I just didn’t know you felt that way too…” She giggled.

“We’d be so happy together… my infernal prince.” There was a yawn.

“I’m going to bed, have to get up early… What? Okay I won’t put you away today, if you want to watch me sleep... my protective, vigilant, watchful… Boss, I’m just going to go wash my hands and then ill come straight back okay!”

Alastor smirked and walked away from the door, he had heard what he needed to confirm his suspicions. Now he could plan to have some fun, whilst seeming perfectly innocent. 

Matters of the heart were always devastatingly fun. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, next one is gunna be longer, but I think this was the best way to separate them.


	4. Get Out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor plays games again, Vaggie has had enough.

Third day, date night. It was a good morning when that thought crossed Niffty’s mind, Alastor had been such a gentleman and watched over her whilst she slept. She had felt safer than ever before, and it clawed at her heart when she put the photo away. She stroked the image of the smiling face gently.

“See you tonight, I’m missing you already… I know, I know. I want to stay here too, but I have to work.”

She placed it in the box and slid it under her bed.

_ Longing, craving, pining.  _

Same routine as always, getting to Alastor’s door she knocked, there wasn’t the usual footsteps, 

“Am I late?” A check of the time on her phone confirmed that no, she was the same time as usual. She knocked again and this time there was the sound of movement. Her heart steadied.

“Niffty is that you?” Alastor was calling from the other side of the door.

“Yes boss, Towels and bedding!” 

“Always on time, you’ll have to forgive me I’m running later than usual today.” The door started to open.

“That’s okay boss I… don’t… mind…” Niffty gulped, Alastor was standing in the doorway, body wet and a towel wrapped neatly round his middle. Clearly just finished a shower. Water droplets were glistening off his taut chest, the occasional one trailed its way down his body leaving a glistening trail across his muscles before being absorbed into his towel. Niffty almost trembled in place trying to take in as much of this sight as possible. She had never once seen Alastor like this, and she wanted to remember it forever. Alastor tilted his head,

“Something wrong? If you’re willing to wait I can make myself more presentable if that would be suitable.”

“No… n-no that’s okay.” She seemed to snap back to reality and walked past the inviting Alastor. The tingling in her chest was almost too much for her. Alastor went into the bathroom to grab an extra towel that he was using to dab himself dry with. Niffty whilst working, kept stealing glances towards him, he seemed to be looking at the cover of the book on his table, but now and then his eyes would shift towards her and their gaze would meet and her heart would freeze. 

With the bed made, she started making her way towards the bathroom but one of Alastor’s hand’s caught her shoulder. 

“Hold on, my dear.” Alastor leant in close and Niffty forgot how to breathe, he gently wiped his fingers across her cheek, warm hand softly dancing across her skin. She almost wet herself.

“You had some something on your face, its gone now.” Alastor straightened up. 

“Would it be okay if I used your bathroom, boss?” She seemed slightly frantic. Alastor grin was narrow.

“Of course, but only if you use my name like I’ve asked you before.” Niffty blushed.

“Sorry...Alastor.” her insides squirmed. The radio demon had such an intense presence in the room.

“Then of course, I’ll use the time to get dressed so you can have this.” He pointed down to his towel wrapped around him. Niffty glanced down to it and then realized she was staring snapped her eye back up to Alastor’s face.

“Thank y-you!” She went into the bathroom and shut and locked the door, turned on a tap so it was loud and grabbed a towel before screaming into it with joy. Now she was alone she was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Dropping the towel she clutched her hand to where Alastor had touched her cheek

She fell onto her knees, her legs left weak and her chest was rising and falling rapidly, she didn’t know if it was nerves or excitement but some form of mania was gripping the tiny demon. 

“Haah... haah…” Her breathing was harsh as she tried to desperately calm down, Alastor would wonder what was talking so long. He had probably already got dressed at this point. 

Washing her hands, that always calmed her down, she almost threw herself at the sink.  Soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

Looking in a mirror her cheeks were flushed red, there was nothing she could do. She flushed the empty toilet, gathered the empty towels and called out.

“Are you dressed, Bo-... A-Alastor?” She heard a static filled laugh.

“Yes, I’m perfectly presentable.” Opening the door Niffty stepped uncertainly into the room, Alastor was dressed in his suit and sat down on his freshly made bed, holding the towels that he had be using.

“Here you are my dear.” He handed the towels over, as he placed them into Niffty’s awaiting arms he brushed his fingers down her arms and across her hands as he withdrew. She quailed under his stare, and tried to whisper out.

“What are you doing?” but it was soundless. Alastor smile widened.

“I always appreciate, you coming round. Just thought you should know.” Niffty opened her mouth again to say something, failed to, closed it again and just nodded. She had to try to remember how to walk as she headed out the room, towels clutched tightly to her chest. She felt light-headed as her heart was hammering away inside, her stomach seemed to be doing a spin cycle. 

Alastor was at the door now and his eyes were piercingly bright. 

“See you later, or tomorrow Niffty?” Niffty just nodded and tried a feeble wave. Alastor shut the door. Niffty almost collapsed once he was no longer in sight.

She needed some alone time, right now! Even if it meant she was late for the rest of the day, Niffty couldn’t keep walking around with this feeling. She rushed off in the direction of her room, a shadow coiling round the corridors following her. 

***

“Where the fuck have you been!?” Vaggie had finally caught up to Angel, and had cornered him in a corridor.

“I lost track of time toots! Sue me,” Angel shrugged, Vaggie didn’t seem to take that lightly.

“I can still smell the booze on you! You’re supposed to be sober for this! It has to be about moderation, NOT THIS! Charlie told me she saw you with Alastor, is that Shitlord taking you drinking? Is he making you miss your groups!” Angel was suddenly angry.

“Don’t call him THAT!” Vaggie eye went wide.

“... What?”

“Aren’t I allowed to walk any more? Smiles was just walkin’ with me! Nothin’ else! If you’re too much of a bitch to let me walk with someone, maybe I’ll just have to find somewhere else to stay! That way I won’t be criticized for spendin’ time with someone!” Angel seemed to be puffing up with indignation. Vaggie just stared at him.

“The hell does that mean? Angel what else have you been doing with Alastor? What has he been saying to you!?” 

“NOTHIN’! HE’S SAID NOTHIN’ TO ME, HE’S JUST A FRIEND, Just a…” Angel quietened down. 

“I’ll be at your next group… Just get out of my face.” He pushed passed Vaggie, who didn’t stop him and just stared after the very confusing spider.

“The fuck is shitlord up to?” Vaggie frowned, why did every time she brought Alastor up in conversation everyone seemed to get defensive about him. First Charlie and now Angel seemed to be in radio demon’s camp. 

“I’ve fucking had enough of this…” She stormed off, Vaggie was going to get to the bottom of this. 

***

Niffty was laughing and dancing around her room holding the photo in shaking hands. Her mania had set in.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?... I want to scream, cry and laugh whenever you pay me attention! No no, not like that… It’s a good thing, I love it, I want your hands on my face again… please… just hold me… Alastor, please.” Niffty had stopped spinning and was just staring at the photo.

“... please.” she let out a sob, before collapsing on her bed and started to cry, she kept hold of the photo and just stared at it through a teary eye as her shoulders shook.

_ Why can’t you hold me? _

Outside Alastor was smirking, this was fun. He barely had to lift a finger for this to pay off.

_ Entertaining… _

Looks like she was just crying now, at least that’s all he could hear. Alastor started to move away, back to his room. It was lucky he saw Vaggie round a corner, he recognized that look. Quickly melting to shadow he zipped around the corridors, he had to get back first.

_ Another golden opportunity, I just need to play my part.  _

Straight under his door, he reformed and conjured his microphone staff, placed it a corner and set it to record, moments before the hard knocks rained down on the door.

“Who is it?” 

“It’s me, open up before I do it for you.” Vaggie definitely seemed agitated. 

“Of course my dear, one moment” He moved over and opened the door Vaggie had already pushed inside as it was unlocked. She was glaring at Alastor.

“The fuck have you been up to Shitlord? Didn’t I warn you about making a wrong fucking move?” Alastor shut the door and moved back into the room, Vaggie’s eye not leaving him for a moment.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to?” Vaggie had clenched her fists and marched towards him.

“Don’t give me that shit! First you got Charlie fucking defending you, and now Angel Dust is in your fucking corner too? That isn’t a fucking coincidence, what the fuck are you planning? You stay away from Charlie! You hear me? I don’t want to fucking see you anywhere near her any more! AND STOP FUCKING SMILING.”

Alastor couldn’t believe his luck, this was going to be all too easy, his grin didn’t lessen.

“You’re never fully dressed without one, my dear. How am I suppose to turn away a close friend who had come to me to voice concerns about a group he needed to attend? His feelings shouldn’t be punished, should they? And I wouldn't want to presume, but perhaps if you're having troubles confiding in Charlie, maybe don’t accuse me of wrong doing, just because I can have a civil conversation about the future of this hotel…” Well, that did it. 

Vaggie first swung out and struck him hard in the stomach and Alastor doubled over, but did not attempt to fight back.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT ME AND CHARLIE!” A second hit landing on jaw had Alastor spitting blood onto the carpet, he winced.

“I’m not here to fight, Can we just talk?” Another blow had Alastor on the floor.

“You’ve done enough fucking talking.” Vaggie hit him again, why wouldn’t he fight back? She wanted the satisfaction of beating him down, and still he somehow managed to ruin that for her. Vaggie just kept hitting him, he wasn't crying out.

_ Just beg for mercy or something… show some weakness.  _

Instead, he was just staring up at her, still fucking smiling.

When Vaggie was finally done, Alastor was badly bruised and bloodied. Vaggie was breathing hard.

“You come near Charlie again, I’ll fucking kill you. You should leave. Fucking get it?” Alastor coughed up something red and dabbed his face with his hand.

“You make your point quite bluntly my dear.” Vaggie slammed the door on her way out. Alastor picked himself up and went over to his microphone. Turning it off he started laughing.

“Too easy…” 

***

Charlie was working on paperwork when the knock and call came on her door.

“Charlie, It’s Alastor, sorry to disturb you, may I please come in?” Charlie frowned, she wasn't too enthusiastic about inviting in the radio demon, but he was being polite at least.

“Okay, let me just get the do-” He had already slipped under the door way, god she hated that he still did that, it gave her haunting flashbacks of his shadow doing something similar. Even though he had already started to heal, his face was still bruised. Charlie stood up quickly

“Oh my… Alastor, what happened?”

“I’m sorry my dear to be the bearer of bad news, but I have something you need to listen to.” He pressed play.

***

Vaggie needed to talk to Charlie, she had thought about what she had done afterwards, walking through the corridors gave her time to think. She had overreacted, she knew it, but she refused to feel bad for beating Alastor, he needed it. Putting her key in the door, she stepped in,

“Charlie I need to…” Charlie was looking horrified and Alastor was standing behind her, grinning. Vaggie was already getting ready to fight, spear in hand.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?” To Vaggie’s horror Charlie had spread her arms and was shielding Alastor from her, Charlie shook her head.

“Stop Vaggie…” 

“This FUCKING asshole is planning something!”

“...Vaggie, please stop.”

“He’s pure EVIL Charlie, can’t you see that?”

“VAGGIE, STOP IT!” Charlie’s shout made Vaggie fall quiet. Charlie dropped her arms, and started to walk towards Vaggie, quiet tears were leaking down her cheeks. 

“Vaggie, I asked you to be more open with me? Why didn’t you just talk to me… why did you have to do this…” Vaggie suddenly felt a panic, she could feel a shift in the conversation and was afraid.

“Charlie, I did… I tried to, but he was manipulating you! Please see that.” Charlie looked exasperated.

“Vaggie, he isn’t… He’s trying… have you even tried?”

“How can I? When I know he wants to hurt you!” Charlie placed a hand on Vaggie spear and gently pried it away, its form dissolving.

“Then please... Vaggie, show me proof… Tell me you can prove it, I’ll do everything I can, but you need to prove it.”

“I… can’t… I just know Charlie.” Charlie’s tears were falling faster,

“Then you need to leave…” Vaggie felt like she had her guts torn out.

“... What?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Celebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie makes a difficult decision and Alastor has a drink to celebrate.

Hells, what Alastor wouldn’t give for some popcorn right now. Charlie’s and Vaggie argument had blown up, he was being very careful to be out of the way, fearing that if he moved or spoke the spell would be broken and Charlie would ask him to leave. 

_ What drama… _

Charlie had slammed a suitcase down on the bed, Vaggie was following her trying to get through to the crying princess.

“You can’t be serious? Charlie! Just stop for a moment!” Charlie paused, tears still trailing down her face.

“... I am, Vaggie you know you can’t attack Hotel guests, We’re supposed to be better, to make them better!” Vaggie threw her hands in the air.

“He’s not a hotel guest!” She pointed at Alastor “He’s a fucking parasite!” Alastor wanted to say something but Charlie was ahead of him.

“I know what you think about him… but he’s done nothing wrong since he agreed to work for me… the only one who’s causing issues… is you” Charlie had started packing clothes into the case. Vaggie placed a hand on Charlie to try to stop her, Charlie shook her hand away hard, she couldn’t look at her any more. 

“Please, don’t touch me…” Vaggie stood there quietly, she couldn’t believe how this was turning out.

“Charlie? Hun? Come on… it’s me!” Charlie kept her back to Vaggie and was looking at the floor.

“Yes, it’s you… You support me, help me build my ideas… what happened Vaggie? Why aren’t you supporting me any more?” Vaggie mouth fell open, she could feel herself welling up and the tears were already forming.

“... Charlie, I’ve never stopped being there for you, how can you say that?” Charlie finally looked up and made eye contact, she was full of grief but stood resolute.

“This place is my dream, and what you’ve done Vaggie, is against everything I’m working for… I asked you to talk to me damn it… Why couldn’t you just do that? I always want to help… but I can’t help this.” Charlie finished packing the suitcase and zipped it up, she pushed it towards Vaggie who didn’t accept it so it just fell to the floor with a loud thump. 

“Go back to your apartment… whilst I figure this all out.” Vaggie gingerly reached down to pick up the case. She wasn’t going to get through to her, Charlie had that determined look, she could be so stubborn sometimes, it choked Vaggie, but she nodded, she took a step towards the door,

“W-What about us Charlie?” Charlie seemed to freeze up.

“I don’t know.” Charlie’s response tore into Vaggie like a knife. 

“Please, Charlie… just don’t listen to him… please.” Charlie didn't respond, and with nothing left to say Vaggie was gone, tears staining her face as she left. Charlie turned to Alastor, it was obvious she was just about to the tip the scales into an emotional breakdown. He applauded her resolve, the Charlie he expected would have been a wreck by now.

“I’m sorry this happened Alastor, if you wouldn’t mind... I want to be alone.” 

Right now Alastor’s name was in the clear, and he wanted to keep it that way, so he would be polite for now.

“Of course my dear, If you need anything. I’m just a call away.” He moved to the shut door, locked it from the inside and then formlessly slipped under the doorway. It was a strange gesture but Charlie appreciated the effort, at least she didn’t have to do it herself. Alone, she finally let the hurt out, and falling onto her bed she wept into her pillows.

She thought she had done the right thing.

_ Why does it feel so wrong? _

***

Alastor was humming a merry tune as he strolled leisurely down the hallway. He was in wonderful spirits, a wedge had been slammed in between Charlie and Vaggie, the constant thorn in his side. The temptation to follow Vaggie and taunt her was strong, he rationalized that it was best if he didn’t risk it. He briskly knocked at Angel’s door, he fancied a conversation with the porn star and Angel always seemed up for spending time together, the door opened.

“Smiles?” Angel looked a little off, a little red around the eyes. Drugs perhaps or maybe booze, neither mattered to the radio demon. 

“Hello, Angel I was hoping to catch you, are you free?” Angel sniffed slightly.

“Uh… sure, come in, you seem happy? What’s got you so up?” Alastor moved into the room and grinned wide.

“Terrible news! Looks like Vaggie has been asked to leave the Hotel for the time being, seems she had difficulties with some of the guests…” Angel just stared for a few moments before laughing out loud.

“Haha, bitch got kicked out?” When Alastor nodded Angel laughed harder, his previous worries forgotten. 

“Come on Smiles! We need to go out and celebrate, I know... I know you don’t ‘do’ clubs, but there’s this quiet one I know… Come on, one drink!” Angel was clapping his hands in excitement and looking at Alastor. 

Alastor paused for a moment.

“It’s been a good day, so why not? You’ve convinced me.” Angel’s smile could have matched the radio demons

“I’ll see in you in the lobby in like thirty mins? I gotta get dressed up!” Alastor was going to say the outfit he was currently wearing was fine, but what did he care? 

“See you down there.” He turned and left, and started humming again.

_ No harm in one drink… _

Angel moved gracefully over to his wardrobe and threw it open, time to bring out the little red dress, 

“Been a while…” A low cut dress that complimented his fluffy bust and rode high on his things, and knee-high black boots to finish the look. In normal society this would get tongues wagging, but this is hell, and it just fits right in. 

Angel smiled at himself in the mirror, seeing Alastor relax with a drink, that would be a first, and he felt a surging sensation, this was going to be a good night. He just knew it. 

***

Angel knew how to pick them, the club was quiet enough, the music in the background was loud enough that you couldn't hear across the room but didn't have any trouble making conversation. There were booths lining the walls allowing parties to have more privacy, Alastor had suggested one, and he and Angel had found an empty one. It was strange, Angel was used to getting advances or cat calls by now, sure people were looking and by the judge of the way their eyes drifted up and down, the outfit was a success. 

No they weren’t approaching the stunning spider because of the company he kept, it seemed that Alastor’s reputation still proceeded him. The stalker… the demon killer, the smiling death. Even the bouncers got out of his way when he approached the entrance. 

The downside was that Alastor found it increasingly difficult to order a drink, either the waitresses would fail to visit, or fled when he tried to get their attention, so Angel was ferrying drinks back and forth from the bar, a small price to pay for having a private moment with the radio demon. 

Getting back over to the radio demon, Angel slid him his drink, a whiskey as requested, with a couple of ice cubes. Angel of course had a huge fruity cocktail and clinked the glasses together.

“Cheers Smiles! To Vaggie, may the grumpy bitch get all she deserves!” He took a large drink, Alastor raised his glass, and sipped a small amount.

“Angel we shouldn’t mock, after all, aren’t we on the path of redemption?” He flashed a grin and Angel laughed.

“Oh sure, I’ve always wanted to be a saint!” He banged his fist on the table and laughed hard. Angel paused for a moment,

“Do feel kinda bad for Charlie…” he looked serious for a moment, Alastor took another sip and enjoyed the burning feeling as the liquid made its way down his throat.

“I wouldn’t worry about her Angel, Charlie is stronger than she seems.” Alastor response got a cocked eyebrow from Angel,

“I’d suppose you’d know her strengths quite intimately…” His eyes were lit up with curiosity. Alastor tilted his head.

“And what would that mean?” Angel rubbed a pair of his hands together as he took another large gulp from his glass.

“...you know, didn’t you fuck her? Before trying to kill her?” Alastor blurted out a small amount of static unable to contain his surprise.

“What made you think I had any sexual relations with her?” 

“Well you know, you kept visiting her alone?... Kinda seemed like that was the sort of thing you were gettin’ from her… Vaggie never said an’ when I asked her, just said if I brought it up again she’d shove her spear into me. Which I took for you were spearin’ into Charlie, if you catch my drift.” Alastor shook his head.

“The thought never cross my mind.” Angel look confused,

“Well, what were you doing with her?” 

“It doesn’t matter now.” Angel looked put out.

“I guess not,” He tapped his fingers together, “So… not interested in women then?”

“What?” Alastor almost choked.

“You just said the thought never cross your mind, but I mean she’s quite a number… so you’re not interested in women?”

Alastor took another sip, the burning was lessened, looks like the alcohol was taking effect. Angel was taking some liberties, but Alastor guessed he was just taking an interest or making conversation. He shrugged.

“I’m not interested in… either.” Angel seemed to glaze over momentarily and with a huge swing downed the last of his drink. 

“I need another… I’m getting you one too…” Alastor looked down at his glass, it was barely half empty but before he could protest Angel had already left, was he upset? 

Alastor couldn’t understand why Angel was so interested in his preferences, he never asked Angel… although Angel did often talk to him about his more interesting stories with his clients. Maybe this was just Angel’s conversation topic he enjoyed. Alastor didn’t really care, Angel was always a conversation he could put up with ever since his self-imposed exile a few months ago. He took another drink, as Angel came back with another cocktail from him and another tumbler of spirit for Alastor.

Angel didn't say anything for a while, he was just drinking, eyes darting up to look at Alastor now and then, when their gaze met Angel quickly looked away again. Something seemed to dawn over the pink spider.

“... Does this mean you’ve never…” Alastor cut him off quickly.

“Of course I have…” Angel waved his hands apologetically 

“No offence meant Smiles, its just that you said you didn't…?” 

“Occasionally previous partners I’ve entertained, would request something more physical… I simply obliged to keep them happy.” He took another drink, it had been a long time since he had done something like that. Down here in hell, Alastor felt no connection like that to anyone, they were all out for themselves and Alastor was no different. Angel seemed to perk up at that, and it confused Alastor, but he was having trouble keeping his thoughts clear, mind starting to fog. He had finished his glass and was onto his second, it was smoother than the first. 

“Lets change the subject…” Angel nodded in response and smiled. 

“Sure Smiles…” 

As the night went on, Alastor become more animated Angel never let him have an empty glass, his years of partying kept him only lightly buzzed compared to Alastor who clearly wasn't used to this amount of alcohol in his system. They talked and laughed for hours, Alastor talked about his visits to the royal palace and the strange orchard Lucifer kept, Angel was both horrified and impressed, Angel talked to Alastor about the local scenes and often his tales ended with him finding himself a John to makes some cash. Angel knew how to work people and Alastor could appreciate that. 

He did something similar but in vastly different way, he worked with fear and blackmail to get what he wanted, Angel could do it with promising whispers of the delights he could offer. Two sides of the same manipulative coin. It was strange how much Angel seemed to be on the same wavelength regarding others, under that gussied up persona of his was someone who really knew what they were doing. Even if it wasn’t subtle. 

Alastor went to stand up for the first time all evening, his legs were being to feel uncomfortable, and he nearly fell over. He was a lot drunker than he thought, Angel was quick on his feet and caught him before he toppled. 

“Whoa, easy there Smiles, think you’ve had enough now! Let’s get you back.” Alastor reached down and quickly emptied his drink before nodding. Angel was a little unsteady on his own feet, but he could easily have managed another few hours or drinking, Alastor was gone… far gone. 

“Suuuure, Angel... I think I’ve haad a bit toooo much.” His slur was comical and Angel laughed.

“Alright I’m not gunna let go of you, let’s go.” Alastor half lurched forward making Angel gasp and have to quickly reposition himself so Alastor didn’t fall flat on his face. 

“Damn, Alastor you got a good drinkin’ poker face, I’d stop gettin’ your drinks an hour ago if I thought you were this bad…”

“OF Course I’m bad… We’re in hell!” Alastor started laughing, “And we’re not going anywhere else!” Angel patted him as he gently shepherded the radio demon towards the door.

“I know, I know, lets get you some fresh air whilst I call us a cab,” Getting outside was hard enough, but now trying to keep hold of Alastor whilst phoning for a taxi was a new challenge, the radio demon kept trying to wander off causing Angel to dive a hand after him and then steady himself as Alastor would inevitable come tumbling back. 

“Angel… Let goooo of me, I’m not some petulant Ch-ch-child!” Angel sighed.

“Our cab’s almost here, just hold on a sec, fucking hell!” Alastor kept trying to wiggle away and angel had to wrap several arms around him to stop him going anyway. It was obvious even when drunk that Alastor was a lot stronger than the spider. Gripping hold of Alastor’s chest gave him some idea of how toned he might be under his clothes. 

_ Don’t fucking think about that now! _

When the cab finally arrived Angel let out a sigh of relief, flagged it down with a free hand and half wrestled Alastor into it first. The driver took one look at the radio demon and turned to Angel.

“He better not fucking vomit back there.”

“He won’t! He’s not that bad!” Angel looked at Alastor who was turning slightly more pale and prayed that he would make it. Sliding in next to Alastor the taxi drove away and the first corner had Alastor slide sideways, face landing on Angels bare shoulder. Angel was about to help move him off when Alastor did something very unexpected.

He had closed his eyes and rubbed his face and hummed quietly.

“You’re sooo soft… Angel!” Angels heart fluttered and didn’t want to move any more.

“Do… Do you like it?” Alastor nodded into his shoulder again and brought up one of his slender hands and gently brushed up against Angels plumage. Angel was used to drunks getting handsy but this felt very different, it was gentle not grasping and filled the spider with a light sort of feeling.

This seemed to settle Alastor down, he didn’t move for the rest of the journey, quite content in just resting on Angel, who was trying very, very hard to keep as still as possible for him. Getting to the hotel he pulled out his money and paid the taxi, getting out he offered his hand to Alastor who took it and staggered out too, he didn't let go of his hand as they both walked towards the doors, Angel smiling at having to help Alastor figure out the height of each step. 

“I swear...they keep changing height!” Alastor managed to slur out getting to the door.

“Come on ya big mess, let’s get you to your room.” Alastor waggled a finger

“Oooooh no! I’m the gentlemen! I will escort you to your room! And then… then escort myself to my room!” 

Angel sighed, he doubted at this rate if Alastor could even make it to anyone’s room, 

“Alright Smiles, lets go!” Hand in hand they managed to get through the lobby, Husk looking perplexed at Alastor’s stagger and angel just mimicked drinking from a bottle and winked. The elevator was next and that was the easy part, inside Angel could just lean Alastor against a corner, and he just swayed in place as the box rumbled upwards. Angel had to brush off Alastor’s hand as the doors ground open, he was starting to stroke him again. 

“Soooooo sooooooft!” 

Now it was just down a few corridors, they may as well have been on the open seas the way Alastor shifted from side to side as he tried to walk down them, Angel seemed to be nannying Alastor, grabbing him before he knocked on the wrong door, or when he just stood still staring at a painting of the pentagram. A thirty-second walk turned into a ten-minute struggle. 

Finally, at Angels door he unlocked and opened it. He turned to look at Alastor.

“I don’t think you're gonna be okay gettin’ to your room Smiles.” Alastor laughed and tapped his nose with a finger. 

“I’ve got more than a few tricks up my sleeve dear Angel, don’t you worry about meeee” The way he swayed on the spot didn’t give Angel much confidence. 

“Look… You wanna sleep it off here? “ Angel was gripping his hands tightly, Alastor let off a static laugh.

“I didn’t think you car-” Angel had grabbed his arms with two of his hands, the other two placed on Alastor’s shoulders. He lent in and suddenly kissed the inebriated demon. There was a delayed reaction, in the murky depths of Alastor’s head. Reciprocation came first as he kissed back, then the slow sluggish thought process.

_ What...am...i...doing? _

Angel snapped to first, his eyes went wide as he realized what he had just done, and he shoved Alastor back and slammed his door shut. Alastor stumbled and fell backwards, his body never hit the floor as he simply took the form of a puddle of shadow. 

Angel put four hands to his mouth and had gone pale.

“What the fuck did I do that for!” He prayed Alastor wouldn't knock on his door and prayed even harder that maybe, just maybe he would be too drunk to remember. 

“Fuck!” 

The shadow puddle struggled to reform back into a body, that was hard work when you couldn’t see straight. Alastor blinked a few times before deciding that he should probably head to bed… Or should he? He was going to have some fun first, he laughed to himself as he started to stagger off.

  
  
  
  



	6. Drunken Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel worries and Alastor makes a drunken mistake that gets turned to someone else's advantage.

Angel was wringing his hands, pacing frantically. The happy buzz he had enjoyed less than five minutes ago was gone, and he was stone-cold sober. 

“The fuck have I done? The fuck have I done?... WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO THAT FOR!?” He pressed his fingers against his lips and paused momentarily, It was a good kiss, even if it was drunk, unsteady and tasted of whiskey. And Alastor kissed back! Like any of that mattered now anyway, what the hell was Alastor going to do when he sobered up, and if he remembered. 

Angels first instinct was to run after the radio demon, to grab him and apologize, blame the alcohol, blame it on anything other than the fact he wanted to kiss him. Alastor would have been too drunk and Angel would have just embarrassed himself, it would have made it worse so instead Angel was worrying in his room. 

“Please, fuckin’ please! Don’t let this have fucked everythin’.” Angel wasn’t the praying sort but if it could get results right now, he’d do anything to make this situation better. He slumped down on the bed and placed two of his hands on his face and groaned. Angel took in a deep breath and sighed.

_ It had been such a good night. _

***

Alastor was stalking the corridors, he fancied himself a hunter, a wild animal on the prowl. Until he fell over as the corridor kept doing that thing where it swayed around, and he lost his balance. Smile lopsided he picked himself back up, not the mighty hunter… just drunk, really drunk. He wanted some more fun by the end of the night, and knew which poor soul he was going to torment. 

One corridor merged into the next, Alastor couldn't track the time or how many doors he passed before he finally got to the one he was after. He knocked on the door and couldn’t help but laugh, there was no response, how late was it? He knocked again louder this time. This time he heard something and footsteps approached the door. 

As the door opened a crack a sleepy eye blinked up at him in surprise.

“... Boss?” Niffty rubbed her eye and blinked again, she was peering around the door, wearing a large nightshirt that came halfway down her thighs, she made a small noise and tried to hide her body so Alastor wasn't looking at her sleepwear. Alastor looked like he was in a state, jacket was crooked on his shoulders, his eyes didn't seem to be in focus at all, and he was swaying in place. He grinned wide, paused for a few moments and then slapped a hand to his forehead.

“Hahaha, Niffty my dear! You know I came here with a plan, but the moment you opened that door I've COMPLETELY forgotten what it was… I should have written it down! I’m sure I have a pen somewhere.” He started putting hands inside pockets searching, he didn't find anything and looked sadly at the floor.

“Boss? You okay?” Niffty was looking up and down Alastor worriedly who started laughing.

“I’m fiiiiine Niffty, fiiiiiiine! Just had a couple of drinks tonight with Angel! We were celebrating…” He hiccuped loudly.

“And I’ve asked you, call me Alastor” He slurred across his name and started laughing again. Niffty was concerned for his health.

“Do you want a drink of water? Hello?” Alastor was staring off down the corridor and seemed to not be paying any attention.

“Alastor?... Alastor!” The second call of his name got his attention, and he rolled his head over to look at Niffty again, she repeated.

“Do you want a drink of water?” Alastor blinked a few times.

“Drink? No no no no no no, I’ve had enough… I don’t know if you know, but I’ve had a few drinks tonight!” Niffty fidgeted in place, even when he was a mess Alastor was a handsome mess.

“Then what can I do for you?” Alastor laughed again.

“Do?... for me? Nothing! I’m here to see you!” Niffty’s breath hitched.

“W-what? Why?” She gripped her fingers round the door tighter to steady herself. What was this? Alastor’s fake indignation was laughable.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ll go and return when I have a reason to see you then... Goodbye!” Half toppling over he turned to leave.

“No wait! D-do you want to come in?” Niffty’s heart was heavy in her chest and had a lump in her throat. Alastor froze in place facing away from her. 

“Are you inviting me inside?” His eyes brightened momentarily.

“Yes…” Niffty pulled the door open and still standing behind it, waited. Alastor moved slowly to get in the room as smoothly as possible, it was like trying to thread a needle, the doorway seemed to be shifting around. Managing to get inside, Niffty quickly shut the door and locked it. 

She was nervous and excited and her imagination couldn’t help but run wild, why was he here? Alastor was just looking around, something swam into view, was that a photo of him on the dresser? He tried to focus on it, but Niffty had spotted him staring at it, and gathered it up quickly and put it somewhere else. Alastor was still trying to muddle through his thoughts.

_ What was I going to do here… I think I had a plan… I wasn’t going to my bed… _

He looked to the corner of the room where the single bed lay, covers half thrown off as Niffty had answered the door. He glanced over to Niffty now, who was just staring at him with her large eye, she didn’t seem to want to move.

_ Wasn’t going to my bed… why am I here?... This bed? _

Did that make sense? Alastor wasn't sure any more, but he knew it was getting harder to concentrate, and everything was getting darker. He wasn’t going to stay conscious for much longer, maybe that’s why he came here? Did he already know he couldn’t get back to his room. It sounded clever enough that it could have been his idea.

_ But sleeping isn't fun… I thought of something fun. _

Alastor gave up and moved and sat down on the bed facing outwards, was Niffty trembling? Or was he just having trouble staying focused. 

“Niffty… I don’t think… I can get up anymoooore.”

“Okay, Alastor” her breathing was soft but rapid.

“Niffty… Can I stay here tonight?”

“Okay, Alastor” He slipped off his suit jacket off and cast it to the floor, it landed in a crumpled heap. Niffty swallowed hard as Alastor’s clumsily started working on his shirt buttons. She was standing still on the other side of the room watching Alastor get undressed. It felt like she should turn around, give him some privacy, but he was too engrossed in what he was doing to notice her and Niffty just couldn't tear her eyes away from him, something was burning away inside her. 

He fumbled again and sighed, those shifty buttons just weren’t staying still. 

“Niiiiiiiiffty, I could use some help…” He looked up at her, watching him.

“W-w-what?” she barely could whisper the word out.

“My fingers are numb, I can’t feel them, it makes this shirt difficult…” Alastor tried to undo the buttons again and failed, thank the hells he was looking down at his shirt again, Niffty couldn’t hold it together if he was watching her step closer, her legs wobbling a little. It was like her dreams, this was real… and Alastor was drunk, but he needed her. Alastor came to her, asked for help, and she was going to do all she could for him. 

Crossing the room rather unsteady she reached up and gently brushed Alastor’s hands away, he didn’t resist and was just looking down at Niffty move over his shirt. She couldn’t make eye contact, not this close, she could hear his breathing as her nimble fingers undid the buttons one by one moving down his chest, the top parting slightly revealing the flesh underneath. She was so close to him, she could feel the heat coming from his body, feel his breath on the top of her head and could smell him, this was a sensational overload, she had to try hard to stay focused. All the buttons undone Alastor shifted it past his shoulder and slipped off the shirt, Niffty took it from him with trembling hands and folded it, keeping her eyes down she dared not look up.

The sound of Alastor unbuckling his belt made her panic, how undressed was he planning on getting? She doubted her twisting stomach could take much more. She reached down and picked up his suit jacket and folded that too. The belt was on the floor and his shoes were cast away, he rolled back slightly as he pulled down his trousers revealing his boxer briefs underneath. 

Niffty was loosing it, unable to look down she finally lifted her head and met Alastor’s gaze, she froze up like a rabbit in headlights. He was stunning, handsome… every inch of him just screamed beauty to Niffty. She was almost certain that her lip was trembling and her hands were definitely shaking. 

Alastor seemed to pay her no mind as he let himself fall back and land on the bed, Shuffling around he got under the blankets, he could feel the trace warmth that Niffty’s body had left. He closed his eyes, he wouldn’t be opening them any more tonight, he slid all the way to the side of the small bed and patted a hand next to him where there was a small amount of space.

Niffty clutched a hand to her chest, her heart was hurting.

_ He wants me… to join him…  _

She had just planned to leave him sleeping and get out of the room, this was something she wasn’t sure if she could handle. Alastor patted again, Niffty wouldn’t let this opportunity go, she couldn’t! Carefully, and quietly she pulled open the covers, caught a glimpse of Alastor’s body, blushed hard and softly slipped in next to him, There wasn’t enough space for her to lie on her back, so she carefully laid on her side keeping her breathing shallow and trying not to touch Alastor with any part of her. It was awkward and there was no way Niffty could sleep like this, in this perpetual state of nervous panic. 

Her night shirt had folded over itself and was touching Alastor’s bare arm, he murmured and frowned.

“Not as… soft… as…” Alastor was gone… unconscious and chest rising and falling steadily, leaving Niffty to wonder what he was going to say.

“A-Alastor?” She whispered out his name and got no response at all, Niffty ran a hand against her shirt, it felt soft enough.

_ Not soft enough for him _

The fire that burned inside was consuming her, that familiar feeling started to descend, her mania was taking over, but this time, she wasn’t alone… this time, she could be held, she didn’t have to cry into the night. 

She reached an arm out and her fingers gently touch Alastor’s chest, she held her breath as her insides squirmed excitedly. She tried rocking her hand gently across him, getting no response, Alastor was completely out of it now. Niffty withdrew her hand before slipping out of the bed, staring deeply down at the sleeping devil she had made her mind up. She pulled the night shirt up and off, her nerves were alight, she didn’t feel the cold of the air, all that she could concentrate on was Alastor, she had wanted this for so long, and now she was going to get it. 

Her naked body slipped back into bed and this time she pressed herself up against the sleeping radio demon, his body warmth was intense, Niffty just wanted to wrap herself around him and soak it all in. Resting her head she listened to his heartbeat, slow and steady, such a contrast to her own frantic beat, her breath was ragged now, her self-control was melting away, Niffty giggled softly.

Her Alastor had always told her much he loved her. Her Alastor always enjoyed spending time with Niffty in her room. Her Alastor loved the attention she would shower him with... 

Niffty’s arms constricted around Alastor’s chest,

“... My infernal prince…” She turned her head and placed a soft kiss on his collarbone. “I love you.”

One last thing to make this perfect, she needed to fall asleep holding onto Alastor, she  **needed** it. Niffty was too worked up, her heart frantically beating, the excitement and nerves, there was no way she was falling asleep without calming herself down first. She kissed his chest again and let go to run her hands down his arm, she couldn’t do it herself… but Alastor could, her Alastor always wanted to.

She moved his limp hand and held it briefly, intertwining her fingers with his. Lowering his hand she gently placed it in-between her thighs, she gasped as it brushed against her. Her voice was unsteady as she spoke.

“You’re touching me Alastor… you’re actually touching me” She couldn’t stop the giggles as she began moving her hips gently grinding up against him. The giggles quickly turned into short gasps as she moved into a fast rhythm, her whole body sang out, This would only have been made better if he was actually awake for this.

She used a free hand to stroke across his arm.

“It’s okay... mmm, you don’t need to… apologize, just be awake for next time!” Alastor’s hand was soaked as she moved her hips up and down across it. She could feel the end coming, a brewing storm, this was so much different from anything that she had done by herself. This was real, and it was with  **him** . 

She wanted to cry out… but he was sleeping, she bit down on her hand and tensed up as she finally came, it was spectacular, Niffty held her breath before letting out a long slow exhale. Everything was calming down, she had to quickly clean up before she could settle in, slipping out of the bed she quickly padded over to the bathroom, with a flannel she wiped up in between her legs, washed out the flannel, squeezed it for excess moisture and then quickly went back over to the bed and wiped up Alastor’s hand… it definitely needed it.

She washed the flannel once more before finally washing her hands,  tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. 

She climbed back into the bed, she would need to change the sheets tomorrow… she cuddled around Alastor and as her heart rate slowed to match the demon she was resting on, she fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hangover's going to be a bitch.


	7. The Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's feeling rough, revelations don't help.

**Buzz Buzz** , She stirred,  **Buzz Buzz** What was that?  **Buzz Buzz** Reaching out blindly Vaggie felt for her phone.  **Buzz Buzz** She fumbled and it landed on the floor next to her bed.

“Shit…” She opened a bleary eye and rolled over, so she was face down looking for it. She hadn’t remembered falling asleep, just crying. It felt like she hadn’t slept. Getting fingers round the phone again she turned it over. From the time displayed, it was late morning… not that she had anywhere to be, but it was Charlie’s smiling face as the caller ID that made Vaggie choke up. She pressed answer and held it to her ear, she hoped she could hold back the tears long enough to get through this. 

“...Vaggie?”

“Yeah?” Vaggie sounded flat and felt worse.

“Oh, H-hi… How are you doing?” Vaggie gripped the phone tightly. 

“How the fuck do you think I’m doing Charlie?” Vaggie heard Charlie breath in,

“S-Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…”

“What do you want Charlie?” 

“I-I…” Vaggie screwed her eye shut tight, she wanted to just hang up on her.

“...missed you last night…” Charlie sounded so quiet, Vaggie couldn’t help but laugh harshly.

“You’re the one who asked me to fucking leave.” Her eye opened again, was it just static down the line, or was Charlie sobbing?

“... I know, I’m…”

“Why are you calling me Charlie?”

“I told you… I missed you la-”

“Is that it?”

  
“I…” 

“You fucking tell me to leave… That we might be over? And the next day you’re calling me, because you miss me? Is this a big joke to you?” Vaggie was at risk of breaking the phone or throwing it out the window. 

“N-no… I shouldn’t have said that yesterday…” Charlie was speaking so quietly now Vaggie had to almost hold her breath just to make out what she was saying, didn’t stop her from scoffing.

“Which part? The part where you said you didn’t think I was supporting you any more, Or the part where you said you didn’t know what was going to happen to us?” 

_ Fuck… _

Tears were leaking down, she sniffed and wiped at her face. 

“Vaggie… I… Don't want to… stop seeing you.”

“Then why the fuck am I here?” Vaggie could hear Charlie’s choked sobs, she never answered and Vaggie sighed.

“Charlie… I’m going to hang up now, I can’t deal with this.” She could hear Charlie move away from the phone and blow her nose,

“O-Okay… Can I c-call you later?” 

“...fine.” Vaggie hung up and let the phone drop back down to the floor, she rolled onto her side and curled up. When she felt better she would get up, it was going to be a long day.

***

_ Oh… hells. _

It was like trying to start a sports car with a hand crank, Alastor opened his eyes and was greeted by piercing pain from the light, he had to shut them again. 

_ Death was more pleasant than this… _

He placed one of his hands on his face, his whole head was tender. He could feel his heartbeat in his temples and it was painfully loud. 

_ Where am I? _

Opening just a single bloodshot eye he winced again but tried to survey his surroundings. This wasn’t his bed… or his room. He tried to sit up and groaned again, he couldn’t move too quickly, and like the living dead slowly rose to prop himself up. Alastor’s stomach was a delicate affair, and even moving that small amount sent it into a tremendous upheaval. Alastor didn't want the indignity of vomiting, so he tried to steady himself as best he could before turning his head to look around. 

Air was cold against his chest, looking down he realized that he was almost completely naked.

_ What?... What’s that? _

There was a dark mark resting on his collarbone… was that a love bite? He reached his fingers up and touched it softly, It didn’t feel of anything, but he had no recollection of how he might have got it, or why he was naked! Looking around the room the scene came into familiarity.

_ This is Niffty’s room…  _

Niffty was nowhere to be seen or heard. A blessing for Alastor as he tried to remember last night, but it was one big jumbled mess and it hurt to think. Looking down he found his clothes, neatly folded in a square pile next to his shoes. Next to it was a tray with a glass of water, a couple of large white tables and a piece of paper.

Picking it up was the next big challenge of the morning, he rotated round and bent down, that was the easy bit. Alastor had to stay bent down for a few moments as he breathed in, everything felt awful. Groaning again be brought the tray up and placed it on his lap, his head was pounding. 

He took a small sip of water, it was so refreshing and surprising how dry his throat must have been. He took the tablets and placed them in the glass, wincing as the fizzing seemed to be at a piercing frequency. Once it settled down her took another sip, it tasted awful but hopefully it would settle his stomach, with the other hand he reached for the note and looked it over.

It was hard to get the lettering into focus, and staring at it almost started to give Alastor motion sickness. He struggled on and noticed the short neat script used to write the note.

**_Good Morning/Afternoon (I’m not sure when you’ll wake up!)_ **

**_I’ve left you something that should help if you have an upset stomach! I didn’t want to wake you, but thank you for last night._ **

**_It was wonderful._ **

**_xxx <3 xxx_ **

_ Concerning… _

The kisses and heart at the bottom gave Alastor pause, What had he got himself into.

“What did I do?” His voice was hoarse, and he clutched a hand to his head after discarding the note. 

_ Why did I let Angel get me this drunk... Angel? _

Something was emerging from the fog, and it was relating to the pink spider. 

_ I remember, trying to stand in the club… Angel helping me into a car? I remember being outside his room… being pushed away? Why was he pushing me away, why was he looking shocked… Did he need to get away from me?… What did I do?... Did I attack him?  _

Alastor groaned and started trying to stand up, he really didn’t want to, but he needed to get dressed, he needed to Check on Angel. If he attacked the fool, there was a good chance he would find a body in the room and would need to get rid of it quickly before someone found it. He almost felt a pang of guilt at the thought, it would be such a waste. 

Trousers on, he had to hold one hand onto the wall to keep his balance, shirt on, and the buttons, he hated these buttons and it took so much bleary concentration just to put them together. After his jacket went on he looked down to inspect, luckily it didn't seem stained. He would almost be presentable if it wasn't for his face, his eyes were tired and bloodshot. They told the truth… Alastor had an incredibly rough night.

He headed for the door and took a final glance at the discarded paper note that Niffty had left him, there was a bad sense around it, for the next few days it might be best to avoid her just in case something was going on that he wasn’t aware of. He left and headed towards the corridor, he had to move slowly, everything was too loud and bright, Alastor summoned his microphone staff, and he used it to steady his walk.

Alastor trudged his way along and eventually made his way to Angels door. He thought about knocking, but then he didn’t want to draw attention with the sound of a knock… Especially if he might have to drag out a suitcase with a body stuffed into it in an hour or so. Bracing he melted down and under the doorway. Using his powers was a struggle and he barely reformed on the other side of the door, Panting had to hold himself up, eyes closed as his stomach started to settle down. 

“A-Alastor?” The radio demon’s eyes snapped open. Angel was sat cross-legged on his bed, he looked worse than Alastor felt, which was strange as every memory that he could piece together of Angel during last night had him tipsy at worst. 

_ Well he’s not dead… but he doesn’t look happy… What did I do? _

Angel looked like hadn’t slept, his eyes were red, he was still wearing that same outfit, clearly hadn’t thought about changing, even his front plumage seemed flatter than usual. His wide eyes were staring right at Alastor, there wasn’t the usual smile that accompanied it, it looked like fear?

“I thought, you might come back…” Angel was wringing his hands, he broke eye contact to stare at the bed. Alastor took a step closer and Angel seemed to flinch.

“I knew it was stupid… but I’d been drinkin’ too!” He stammered and flit his eyes back up to Alastor before looking down at the bed again.

“Angel?” Had he tried to fight Alastor, was he afraid of revenge? They had been celebrating together, this didn't make any sense. 

“You can’t be mad at me! You were gettin’ a bit too close Smiles… tellin’ me nice things, What did you think I was going to do?” Angel was getting more fidgety and Alastor just stared in confusion, he was trying to remember but nothing was coming to him. 

“Look, can we just forget it… It just a stupid kiss…” 

_ Oh, at least we haven’t been fighting… _

“Wait...WHAT?”

  
  
  
  
  



	8. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor has issues, turns to an unexpected person for help.

“You… kissed me?” Alastor was stunned, and feeling annoyed. Angel was quick to respond raising a hand, he was panicked and rightly so, Alastor’s head was hurting bad, but he reckoned he could still smash Angel’s face in.

“No!  **We** kissed, you kissed back!” Alastor ridiculed the statement, he was feeling more irritated with each passing moment.

“When I was so drunk I couldn’t stand on my own,  _ we kissed _ ?”

Angel was sitting bolt upright, he didn’t want Alastor to get the wrong idea.

“I wasn’t taking advantage Smiles! I’m not like that!” 

Alastor thought that was such of crock of shit he couldn't help but laugh.

“What about all your talk of taking drunks cash… leaving the drugged up fools penniless? What was I, your next mark!?” Angel’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head and looked desperately at the leering radio demon. 

“No! I wouldn’t do that to you!” 

Alastor raised his arm and pointed at Angel as he ranted.    
  


“Why not? Everyone here stabs each other in the back constantly why is this any different?” 

Tears had started to run down Angels cheeks wetting his fur as it moved down his face, Alastor rolled his eyes at the pathetic act the spider was putting on. Angel was shaking when he drew in the breath and just shouted at Alastor.

“BECAUSE I LIKE YOU!...” That wasn’t the response Alastor was expecting.

“What?... Why in hell do you li-”

“Fuckin’ Hell! Cos I do! You don’t try to change me! You accepted me! You don’t creep over me! You listen! Fuck, you treat me like a person! How fucked is that? One of the most powerful demons down here is treatin’ a fucking whore like a person! Do you have any idea how rare that is? How many assholes I have to deal with, out there, when I’m working!... Of course I was gonna to get attached to you being around… of course I was going to worry when you had to leave to do Apple’s work!” Angel fell quiet as he finished. 

“Of course I was gonna think about you… when you weren’t around…” Alastor had no response, for once in a very long time he was speechless. Angel was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. Alastor had nothing, he was glad Angel wasn’t dead but to have him gush over him was too much for his mind to handle when he was trying hard not to vomit right now. Alastor finally spoke

“I need to go.” He went to go to the door and Angel called out.

“Alastor, wait!” Alastor ignored him.

“I'm glad you’re safe.” Alastor went straight under the door as a shadow and didn't reform on the other side, instead he slipped off, he was going to find a dark corner and recover… in peace. 

It left Angel sat on the bed feeling vulnerable… he hadn’t opened up like that to anyone in decades… He tucked his knees up and cuddled them. It could have gone worse. He sniffled loudly and dabbed his hand at his wet eyes. 

“I wish I never fell for him…” 

***

Alastor didn’t know where to go, if he went back to his room he ran the risk of Angel looking for him, or worse… Niffty. He still didn’t know what to think about the tiny demon, something was wrong he just didn’t know what. So Alastor found a dark corner, and staying as a shadow slunk his way into it.

Hopefully here he could recover in the quiet, now his only interruptions were creatures passing through, their heavy foot falls making Alastor wince. This left Alastor for the better part of a day with nothing but his slowly clearing thoughts. 

What to do about Angel… The radio demon hadn’t the foggiest about relationships and all those ‘feelings’ that came with it, it was an entirely alien concept for him in hell. He though that Charlie was the exception to the rule, and he had put that down to being the spawn of the fallen angel. Everyone was supposed to be selfish, they were supposed to be self-serving!

_ What is this? Why can’t I understand… _

For once Alastor had a thought that he shuddered at, he needed advice… relationship advice. 

_ Oh how the mighty have fallen, _

Well the obvious choice would be Charlie, something told him that, she wouldn't be thrilled at helping, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the thought of talking to her about something personal. Niffty was out, as was Husker… He couldn’t talk to Angel. 

_ Hells… What if? _

A thought crossed him that would perhaps work, or at the very least it would help pass the time and take his mind off his current problems. Alastor stopped thinking, he needed more rest and would leave when he felt better, with what was going to transpire tonight, he might need all of his strength.

*** 

It was early evening as Alastor walked through the streets outside, he was finally thinking clearly again and felt so much better. He vowed he wouldn't be drinking that much again, what a waste of a day and also what problems it caused him.

It had been so long since he had last been here. He remembered the time fondly, the hiding princess cowering before him, carving herself red just to stop him from waking up Vaggie. He sighed.

_ Good times… _

The apartment block still looked shady at best, moving through dark and slightly damp hall, he remembered where to go, he even saw marks of his previous passing, dark grooves carved into the walls.

Vaggie already hated him enough, telling her anything would hardly change her opinion of him, plus she was the other half of the ‘loving’ relationship, so she had insight he craved. 

_ Better knock this time… _

He rapped his knuckles hard against the door, a muffled shout came from within.

“I’m not buying or selling anything...now FUCK OFF before I pull your tongue out through your asshole.” 

_... Rude… _

Looks like he would be letting himself in then, slipping under the crack in the door he silently formed on the other side. Vaggie wasn’t in the kitchen or living room.

_ Bedroom then… _

Moving into the living space he turned to face the open door that led into the bedroom, he wanted to laugh… by the nine circles of hell he wanted to…

Vaggie looked like a mess, she was sat cross-legged on her bed. Her hair was misshapen and sticking off in random directions, her clothes were clearly there for ‘comfort’ a large jumper covered most of her body and some of her legs it had fresh stains running down it. She was clutching a spoon and a large tub of ‘cookies and cream’ ice cream. She looked exhausted and miserable. 

_ Vaggie, you look pathetic. _

A spoonful was halfway to her mouth when she spotted Alastor in her living room, the change was almost instant, her pupil contracted, muscles tensed and the spoon was discarded, before it had clattered on the floor she had thrown her spear at him with frightening force, and jumped down to the floor.

Alastor was ready for this, and Vaggie didn’t know all his new tricks, he wasn’t going to let her touch him this time. He didn't need to move and simply let the spear pass through him, a shadowy swirl the only mark of its passage as it sailed straight past and slammed into the wall embedding itself deeply. Vaggie had already moved into the room, crouching low she tried to sweep his legs and knock the radio demon off his feet, clearly she hadn’t learned yet, with her leg passing harmlessly through his shins, she over swung and Alastor grabbed Vaggie before she could correct herself and slammed her straight into the wall clawed hand over her throat, not enough to draw blood but certainly tight enough that she knew it was there. 

“FUCK YOU!” She spat and tried to kick him desperately, no surprises that her leg passed straight into his torso, Alastor sighed and slammed her head against the wall, the plaster cracked under the impact and Vaggie went limp. Alastor checked… still breathing, good.

_ Could have gone better… _

He dragged her unconscious body and placed it on the bed, looking down, Alastor picked up the spoon and the turned over ice cream, it was already soft and starting to melt. He stuck a finger in and tasted it.

_ Not bad. _

Moving out, he took it over and put it back in the freezer, no point wasting it. He dragged a chair from the living room into the bedroom and sat down in it. Now he just had to wait for Vaggie to wake up again, this might take a while. 

***

Vaggie tensed as she groaned and opened her eye, Sat in the opposite corner of the room Alastor was sitting perfectly still just watching her. She sat bolt upright and got ready to throw something at him. Alastor raised a hand.

“You know if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now. If I wanted to torture you first I would have restrained you.” Vaggie didn’t relax and just stared at him, she hated him. She hated him so much. She refused to say anything.

“...” Alastor rolled his eyes.

“My dear, if you want to be stubborn I think you’ll find I'm infinitely more patient… I can wait.”

Vaggie gritted her teeth and stared at him, she wasn’t going to speak to him, if he was after some sick torture he would have to do everything. The waiting started, Alastor was as still as a statue just looking in Vaggie’s direction, she refused to look away from him just in case he was going to try anything. The tension was awkward and heavy and the seconds slowly ticked into minutes, that turned into hours.

Alastor refused to let his facade down, but he was getting more and more annoyed at Vaggie’s defiance.

_ Stubborn... _

Vaggie’s phone buzzing made her jump, she glanced an eye quickly over to it. It was Charlie, but she refused to move for it, Alastor noticed too.

“Are you going to answer that? Could be important, don’t let me stop you.”

“...” As the phone buzzed away Vaggie was seemingly getting more twitchy, finally after an eternity it double buzzed indicating a missed call and fell silent, there was almost relief in the room. Alastor started to open his mouth to say something but the phone started buzzing again as Charlie called for a second time. Vaggie finally relented and grabbed the phone, she was staring at Alastor when she answered.

“Charlie?” It was so quiet in the room that Alastor heard Charlie’s response clearly she sounded nervous.

“Vaggie, I’m so glad I got through to you! You were right!”

“... What?”

“It’s Alastor! He’s been fighting people in the hotel” Vaggie narrowed her eye staring at the radio demon.

“What, when?” 

“Just now! I’ve just had to break up a fight, please come back! I need your help to get rid of him… I’m sorry about before, you were right, please help!” 

“...” Vaggie didn’t respond, and she was shaking in place. It was moments like this, that Alastor enjoyed the most, random chance had stacked fate in completely his favour. He was proud of Charlie in a way, she was throwing him under the bus to get what she wanted, whilst saving face.

_ Smart… but not smart enough Charlie, Should have found out where I was first… _

“Vaggie? You there?” Alastor could hear Vaggie’s harsh breathing from across the room.

“Did you just say… right now?” That would be the only lifeline that she offered, Charlie missed it.

“Yes Vaggie! It just happened!” Vaggie knuckles were turning white as she constricted her grip around the phone. The venom as she hissed down the phone, made a shudder run Alastor.

_ You’ve got a mean streak. _

“... Liar.” Charlie was taken aback. 

“W-what? Vaggie?”

“It just happened, did it? Didn’t know Alastor could be two places at once, did you know that Charlie?”

“I-I don’t understa…”

“Alastor’s here… Charlie, he’s been here a long time” The shock in Charlie’s voice made Alastor grin grow.

“What?... oh god… VAGGIE I-” The phone broke in Vaggie’s hand, she threw it across the room. She turned to face the radio demon, her anger plain to see.

“Get me a beer and give me my fucking ice cream back…” 

Alastor nodded and got up, finally perhaps he would get somewhere. 

  
  
  



	9. The Enemy of my Enemy... Is Still my Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie lied and Alastor gives and gets some advice.

“I would have gone back to her…” Vaggie dug the spoon in hard, scraped it across and pulled out a huge lump of ice cream before shoving it into her mouth, another drip on the jumper, she didn’t care. 

“I would have gone back happily... for a lie.” The spoon bent slightly as she gripped too tightly, Vaggie sighed and placed the spoon in the tub and moved it to one side, she felt betrayed and it hurt.

“She is her fathers daughter… I wouldn’t expect anything else.” Alastor spoke softy, he was still sitting in the room with Vaggie, he was trying his best not to provoke her, he still wanted to talk to Vaggie, she couldn’t just throw him out, but her bouts of silence certainly made conversation difficult. 

Vaggie narrowed her eye and stared at Alastor. She still hated him being here, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“She was supposed to be different shitlord, She promised to tell the truth…” Alastor shrugged in response, he didn’t understand why lying was so surprising in hell.

“What are you going to do about it my dear?” Alastor was gently tapping his fingertips together.

“The fuck you talking about?” Vaggie wasn’t done with the ice cream yet and picked it back up and got another spoonful ready. Alastor continued with his soft tones.

“Well a younger me would have sought out revenge after becoming Charlie’s little scapegoat, But you’re the prize she was trying to trap with a web of lies… So what are you going to do?”

Vaggie swallowed her next scoop and scowled at him.

“Fuck you! I’m not like you! I don’t want to hurt Charlie. You’re just the piece of shit who enjoys tormenting people!” Alastor smiled wide.

“Only one of those statements is true, you’re certainly not like me, but I don’t torment people… I give them choices, its just a pity that they often take the most self-destructive path. Take Charlie for instance…” 

“Bullshit!” Something was twisting inside Vaggie as she shouted, Only one of the statements was true? Alastor couldn’t know, but a small twisting petty part of Vaggie  **did** want to hurt Charlie, to punish her for all the hurt and heartache. She focused on the radio demon instead of her guilty thoughts.

“Charlie was sick! You practically forced the blade into her! She Didn’t have a choice.” Alastor laughed in response, a dry mirthless laugh.

“Don’t try that with me, Charlie had plenty of choices, She  **chose** to keep it secret,  **Chose** to let me in her room daily rather than go to you. What, pray tell did you do in response? Whispered words and forgiveness? No wonder she’s still lying if all she ever gets is a gentle slap on the wrist… I can only imagine the rush Charlie must feel pulling the wool over your eyes effortlessly and constantly.”

“SHUT UP!... I…” Vaggie wanted to shout more but her voice faltered, and she fell silent. 

_ Oh god, Is he right? _

Alastor was enjoying this, he never thought he could get to Vaggie, she always seemed too headstrong… so sure of herself, but he could basically smell her insecurities. Charlie, the poor girl had just opened the door and invited Alastor inside, and he was going to take this opportunity, it might be the only time he could. If he had to find another way to deal with Angel, so be it. This was too much fun to pass up. 

Alastor spoke again, he didn’t want to move just yet… soon though.

“Everyone down here lies, Me, Angel, Charlie… even you. We’re all guilty of sin, Lying is just the easiest sin to rationalize away…  **I don’t want to hurt you** …  **You wouldn’t understand** …  **I didn’t want you to think less of me** .” 

Vaggie was just looking at Alastor now, she didn’t feel like shouting at him any more. He was making sense and it was scaring her, his honeyed words seemed to slip around her and make Vaggie feel less guilty. She shook her head.

“Charlie and me...we were different, I thought she was different, I don’t…” Vaggie trailed off and stared at the floor.

“This is hell my dear, if you think something is nice, it just means it wants to hurt you more intimately. I never hid who I was, I deserve to be here, I’ve accepted it, but what lies are you telling yourself?”

Vaggie wriggled in place uncomfortably, she wanted Alastor to leave, to allow her to suppress these feelings that he was stirring up. She felt dirty, like she was holding onto a bunch of secrets. She looked up at the shift of shadows, Alastor was standing next to Vaggie, looking down at her. He reached and placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, she wanted to recoil, to pull away, but it was warm and Alastor’s eyes had locked onto her. He asked again.

“What lies?” Vaggie swallowed, why was she so nervous about answering a question.

_ Nothing… Just say nothing… _

“... T-That I don’t want to see Charlie hurt for what she’s done…” The moment the words escaped her lips, it was like the guilty weight was being lifted. Alastor removed his hand and didn’t say anything. 

“I want her to know how much she hurt me… with the lies and the secrets. I love her but I can’t continue like this, I’m a terrible, cruel person but I just want her to feel like how she’s made me feel!”

Alastor stepped back and sat down again, his smile, almost sympathetic? Well he could make it look sympathetic. 

“I’d say that sounds fair, not cruel. Why should only you have to suffer, when Charlie gets away with anything she feels like?”

Vaggie nodded, paused and spoke out quietly.

“If I don’t show her how bad it makes me feel, Charlie won’t change…” Alastor’s smile widened.

“It might be a painful lesson for Charlie, but don’t you think you’ve had enough? Don’t you think its time you make Charlie understand?” 

Vaggie nodded again, then a thought cross her mind, and she shook her head, the briefest hint of a smile across her face. 

“Fucking hell, Never thought I’d say thank you to you… but you’ve helped me think about things.”

“You’re quite welcome my dear.” Vaggie took another spoonful, the tub was almost empty, and she wasn’t going to put it back in the freezer.

“So, Alastor why the fuck are you here?” Alastor was about to open his mouth but the screeching of tyres outside interrupted him. Vaggie heard them too, getting up she peered out of the window, her heart sank when she recognized the car. Alastor didn’t need to look to know who,

“The princess I presume?” 

“Y-yeah, I don’t want to see her right now…”

The frantic knocking at the door came next, Alastor couldn’t help but smirk at Charlie’s panic she must have run to get to the door so quickly, Vaggie folded her arms as she sat back on the bed, trying her best to ignore her. 

“Vaggie! Please let me in, please let me explain.” 

Vaggie was stiffening, but she took another mouthful of ice cream. Charlie didn’t stop.

“Please… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!... Vaggie” The banging on the door slowed down, and seemed to be a deeper thud. Was Charlie banging her head on the door? She was sobbing too, her cries between every other word.

“I d-don’t… want to… l-loose you!... Please… p-please let me in! Just say s-something!” 

There was a noise as she slid down and collapsed at the foot of the door. She feebly continued to knock and cry. 

“V-Vaggie… p-please… I l-love y-you… please. I’m not g-going anywhere, I’ll stay here… for as long as it t-t-takes!”

Charlie eventually fell quiet on the other side door, the only noise was the occasional sob. Vaggie had finished the ice cream, the messy spoon resting in tub she took it into the kitchen, glanced at the door and the sobbing coming from the other side, she shook her head and threw the tub on a counter top before reaching into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of ‘hellweiser’ popping the bottle cap off she took a long swig, paused and grabbed a second bottle. 

Getting back she offered the bottle to Alastor, he shook his head, he wasn't ready for alcohol again. Vaggie shrugged, just meant that she didn’t have to move far to get her second. She took another swig.

“So what were you saying?” Vaggie was clearly on edge, and actively avoiding the issues outside her door, but this might be the only time he could talk about it so Alastor continued.

“I don’t know what to do with Angel… he expressed… feelings for me.” It sounded awkward and Alastor felt awkward for saying it. Vaggie eye went wide and she almost choked mid drink. Now spluttering she sat up.

“W-What? No fucking way.” Alastor nodded and Vaggie shook her head.

“I just thought he only cared about getting his next high or fucking drink.” Alastor placed a couple of fingers to his temple and massaged the area. 

“So did I…”

“Well Alastor, what do you think about him?” 

“I don’t love him…”

“You’re fucking bad at relationships aren’t you shitlord?”

“...” Alastor didn’t respond, he didn’t like admitting to weaknesses, even if Vaggie was spot on. 

“You don’t just see a person and fall in love with them, Do you think the first time I saw Charlie I fell head over heels?” She fell quiet at the last part.

“Maybe?”

“You’re fucking stupid then. It takes time. Do enjoy spending time with him?”

“He would come talk to me… when I wasn’t at the hotel, I enjoyed the conversations.” Vaggie’s eye narrowed.

“Wait… he knew where you were that whole time?... fucking prick.” Alastor spread a thin smile, Vaggie rolled her eye.

“Either go for it, or don’t… I don’t fucking care about your shit,” Vaggie shrugged. “But what’s the worst that could happen?” 

_ What was the worst that could happen? _

“Thank you for that insight my dear.” Another long swig of booze before Vaggie responded.

“Pfft, whatever”

Alastor thought about it, it would make Angel happier, could that really be such a detriment for him? He supposed that if he got under Angel’s skin then maybe he could always ask for favours from the spider… perhaps this could be useful further down the line. At the very least it would allow Alastor to enjoy Angel’s company a bit more, and there was no harm in that.

_ That’s decided then...  _

He rose from his seat, Vaggie watched him turn to leave the room.

“You finally fucking leaving then? Good.” She paused and sighed. “I don’t like you, and I fucking don’t trust you… but, you helped me figure some shit out, so thanks… I guess.” Alastor flashed a smile as a response that made Vaggie groan and roll her eye.

“Fucking prick.” 

“Anytime my dear, you ever need a smile that listens don’t be a stranger.” 

Vaggie was going to spit out an insult but held her tongue.

“...Ok.”

Not a response that Alastor was expecting, perhaps this was an avenue that he could experiment with later. 

“What should I do about…” Alastor pointed at the door. The sobbing was still outside.

“... Just ignore her.” Vaggie said coldly. The radio demon gave a curt nod before dissolving down into a shadow form and slipped under the door. Charlie cried out in surprise as he slipped under her and reformed in the corridor. 

If he thought Vaggie had looked bad, it didn’t hold a candle to how Charlie was, Her hair was everywhere messy strands running down the front of her face, some sticking to her cheeks mangled with the wetness that was streaking her face, her lip was quivering and snot had leaked down from her nose, there was also a large red mark on her forehead, probably when she headbutted the door. With how puffy and red her eyes were she must have been crying since Vaggie ended their phone call. Her whole body shook, it looked like she had been suffering from a constant anxiety attack. 

Charlie had her back resting against the door, sat on the floor. With Alastor’s appearing she fell forward and tried to reach for him with her hand, it was like trying to grasp smoke.

“A-Alastor… W-wait!”

He ignored her and continued to walk away.

“P-Please!”

Alastor kept his word and left without a passing remark. Charlie let out a strangled sob and collapsed forwards onto the floor and continued to weep. On the other side of the door Vaggie was quietly listening.

…  _ Good. _


	10. Let me in.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor takes a daring step into the unknown, Vaggie gets more upset if that's even possible.

It was dark looking out the window. Vaggie swayed in place slightly as she frowned, the car was still parked outside illuminated by one of the few working street lights. She didn’t know what time it was, funny thing, having your phone as your only source of time, especially when it was shattered. Tipping a bottle straight up she drained the last of the beer and moved to kitchen to place it next to her collection of other empty bottles she had accumulated since Alastor’s departure. 

Passing the front door she paused to listen… there was still quiet breathing pressed up against the door and murmurs of a whimper. Not wanting to make a sound Vaggie held her breath and gently placed an ear to the door trying to listen to what Charlie was saying.

“... It’s all my fault… It’s all my fault… It’s all my fault…”

_ It is your fault Charlie… You lied to me. _

Vaggie closed her eye and breathed in deeply, she wanted to shout at Charlie, to berate her with all the hurt she had caused her. She released the breath and moved away from the door, no she wouldn’t give Charlie any interaction today. Once Charlie left, Vaggie was going to go out to the store to get some more beer. For now, she laid down on the bed and pondered quietly on what she wanted to do.

Vaggie still loved Charlie, she knew she did, she could feel it… but it was buried under a mountain of pain that Vaggie didn’t know how to get through. She didn’t want to cry any more, she was just angry and tired, Vaggie would leave the crying to Charlie. She huffed and rolled onto her side, then let out a dry laugh as a thought crossed her mind.

_ Fucking shitlord is going to be doing better than me soon…  _

As the hours passed by Vaggie finally fell asleep on top her bed, she never heard Charlie leave because she didn’t, the blonde was curled up in a small ball and had propped herself against the door, she desperately listened, hoping she would hear Vaggie come to the door to let her in. Her heart clenched tightly again, she was still shaking, she hadn’t stopped, with another ragged breath a fresh wave of tears spilled down. 

Charlie was at the bottom of a dark pit, there wasn’t light any more, and she was alone. She screwed her eyes shut and gripped her arms tightly.

“I deserve this… I deserve this…”

_ I’m so sorry Vaggie, I think I’m broken. _

_ *** _

Alastor was standing outside Angel's door, it had been a few minutes now, he wasn’t nervous about entering, he just didn’t know what to say… or how to say it. They hadn’t left on the best terms last time he was here. The radio demon had heard movement from the inside, he knew Angel was there moving around. He was tense and couldn’t help but smile at the situation, without blinking an eye he could disembowel a man in front of his screaming wife and child, he would eagerly and happily blackmail a girl into self harming for his amusement whilst she cried and begged for him to stop… but this? This gave me pause. 

As fate would have it, he didn’t need to knock, footsteps got louder and the door opened as Angel went to leave, he was dressed up ready for an evening out, his eyes looked tired but the rest of him was immaculately presented. Angel’s eyes went wide as he saw Alastor waiting on the other side of the door, and he froze in place.

“A-Alastor?” 

“Good evening Angel, were you just leaving? I can come back later if you would prefer…” Angel was about to go out, he had planned on drinking himself stupid tonight to help forget about Alastor, but here he was.

“No… It’s okay, umm… whatcha... doin’ here?” Angel had a horrible feeling in his stomach as he looked at that smiling mouth, the bright eyes...his handsome face. Was Alastor here to tell him that he wanted Angel to stay away from him, what else could it be?

“Can we talk in private?” Alastor indicated with a sweeping arm that he was still standing in the hallway, Angel was blocking the door, he blinked a few times and moved to the side and Alastor moved inside the room.

“Oh… sorry Smiles.” Angel closed the door and took a long time staring at it before turning around, his stomach hurt now.

_ At least he can tell me now… So I can move on. _

He kept telling himself over and over, 

_ Don’t cry this time, it wasn’t ever gunna work… _

Alastor spoke as he moved and sat down on the bed, patting a place next to him for Angel to join him, the spider squirmed but sat next to Alastor, he couldn’t quite muster the courage to look at him so instead stared at his own hands as they rested on his lap. 

“Over the last months, I’ve grown accustomed to you… being around. I enjoyed our conversations…” 

Angel was waiting for the ‘but’ and closed his eyes. It didn’t come, and he almost jumped when Alastor placed a hand on top of one of his, opening his eyes Angel turned to him. Alastor was staring intently at him, his face a lot closer than before, it was intense and Angel’s stomach did a backflip.

“S-Smiles?...” His heart was starting to race, and he couldn’t look away any more. 

“... If you wanted to spend more time with me Angel, I think I could find that… agreeable.” 

A small smile spread on Angel’s face, by the nine hells Alastor was awkward at this.

“Smiles… Are you askin’ me out?” His coy voice rang out softly, now it was Alastor’s time to fidget awkwardly. Angel raised a hand and gently placed it on Alastor’s face, resting on his cheek, Alastor didn’t pull away but didn’t seem to know what to do, Angel leant in closer.

“Promise you’re not messin’ with me?” Alastor flashed a wider grin,

“Would I do that to you?” Angel laughed softly in response.

“Probably, I know you... you’re not drunk this time, are you Smiles?”

“No, I don’t think s-” Angel’s lips had pressed against Alastor’s and silenced him, it was soft and careful, Angel was holding back, he wanted to take Alastor breath away, to push him over and just have him. 

This would do for now, he wrapped a couple of his arms around the radio demon and held him in a gentle embrace. Alastor clumsily returned the kiss, it was nice enough he supposed, Angel’s elevated breathing and quiet moan gave Alastor the satisfaction that Angel was certainly enjoying it. Their lips parted and Angel pulled Alastor into a tight hug and placed his head on the radio demons shoulder and was looking up at him. Alastor spoke first,

“You’re really soft Angel.” The spider smiled at him,

“I know, you already told me once…”

“Did I?” Angel nodded into him. 

“Were you going to leave?”

“Not any more… do you wanna stay? I wouldn’t mind, just chattin’ for a bit…” 

Alastor shrugged,

“I don’t have any other plans tonight.” Angel shifted around and pulled at Alastor to get him lying down on the bed, Angel rested his arms across Alastor’s chest and pressed his head into the crook of his neck.

“Comfy Smiles?” Alastor nodded, Angel was warm and so soft, it was pleasant. 

“I saw Vaggie today…” 

“Oh?” 

Alastor starting telling Angel about his day with the grey soul, and her disappointment in Charlie. Angel hugged into Alastor, the spider’s heart soared as they spoke long into the night together cuddled up on the bed. 

***

Only a small headache, that was fine. Vaggie got up and stretched, the light was peeping through her windows. She got dressed, quickly discarding the clothes she slept in. Vaggie felt a little better, so she put on her usual outfit and left the jumper to one side, she’d clean it before putting it on again. 

In the kitchen she quickly drank a large glass of water, that should help with the headache, she massaged her temples. She grabbed her keys and got her shoes on, she would get shopping done now even if she felt a little rough. Knowing Charlie, she would come back today trying to get to her.

Opening the door she almost tripped over the body curled up at the entrance. Charlie hadn’t gone anywhere and was sleeping rough in the corridor. The sound of the door had woken her up, and she turned her head to look up.

“...V-vaggie?” Her bloodshot eyes were watering as she stared up at Vaggie. 

“Charlie, you look terrible.” Charlie broke up and started crying again.

“S-sorry!” 

Vaggie sighed,

“The fuck you still doing here Charlie?” Charlie started to sit up.

“I told y-you, I’d wait as l-long as i n-needed to” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, there was noticeable wet stains on the ends of both her arms. How long had she been crying for? Vaggie sighed again and rubbed her temples again, looks like she was going to be dealing with this first. She couldn't just have a squatter outside.

“Get in…” Charlie practically fell over trying to get up quickly, she was an absolute mess.

“T-thank you! Vaggie, I can explain, if you just let m-”

“Shut up and sit down, Charlie.” Vaggie pointed into the living room and Charlie froze, closed her mouth and moved into the room and sat down on the small sofa. Vaggie refilled the glass of water and thrust it at Charlie, she shook her head.

“I-I’m f-fine Vaggie!”

“Just drink it.” Charlie took the glass with a trembling hand, she sipped quietly her large eyes just watching Vaggie pace around the room. Vaggie temper was flaring and her headache wasn't helping.

“I just wanted to be left alone for a while, Charlie… why couldn’t you give me that! I didn’t want to talk to you…” 

“I messed up… I… didn't know what to do, Vag-” She was crying again.

_ Is that all you’re good for? _

“Not LIE Charlie! That should have been the first thing!” The blonde flinched at Vaggie’s shouting, Vaggie didn’t care. Charlie cried out,

“I’m Sorry!”

“HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SAID THAT TO ME? HOW MANY MORE UNTIL YOU MEAN IT!?”

“I m-mean it!” Charlie looked terrified, 

“Then why do you  **keep** lying to me!” Charlie opened her mouth but no sound came out, she shook her heard and sobbed out.

“I’m broken!” Vaggie rolled her eye,

“The fuck does that mean Charlie?” Charlie was staring at the floor and barely spoke out more than a whisper.

“Because I get everything wrong… because I love you so much but I keep making mistakes and hurting you… Because I keep lying and I don’t even know why any more… Because I keep thinking that maybe… maybe if I had died, you would have moved on by now and be happier without me…”

Vaggie had cross the room and in a flash had slapped Charlie straight across her face, she didn’t flinch and just took the strike, eyes staring up at Vaggie’s anger.

“Don’t you  **ever** say that! And HOW DARE YOU? You’ll kill yourself because I’m unhappy with you? IS THAT IT?” 

Vaggie raised her hand and slapped Charlie again, this time she let out a cry and was knocked sideways across the sofa, her glass of water slipped and shattered on the floor. She lowered her hand, and sighed, she had hit her too hard that time. Charlie’s eyes were wide and frantic.

“... D-Don’t stop… If it helps you, I’ve done worse...to myself, I-I can take it” Vaggie froze in place.

“WHAT THE FUCK…”

  
  
  
  
  



	11. Rain Cloud Caught in a Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie looks at the demons haunting Charlie.

“What did you just say?” Vaggie couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Charlie nodded, and looked at Vaggie with a strange enthusiasm that concerned her greatly. 

“Oh, you don’t have to hit me if you don’t want…” Charlie scrabbled around the foot of the sofa and picked up a large shard of the broken glass she had dropped. She presented it like some sort of twisted offering and smiled.

_ Why the fuck are you smiling Charlie? _

“You know how quickly I heal… its fine, really…”

Vaggie wanted to be sick, she turned away, Charlie panicked and quickly shot off.

“Its not like it was with Alastor! I promise, he forced me to do it. I love you, so I’m giving it to you… Don’t you see? If it makes you feel better, if it makes you hate me less, then it’s worth it, I’ll feel better too.”

_ Why do you think this Charlie? _

Her grip on the glass was too tight, and crimson was already dribbling down her hand.

“Oh no! I’m s-sorry I didn’t mean to start!” Charlie put the shard down next to her and clutched her hand to her chest trying not to get any blood on her clothes of the sofa. 

“Would you mind if I took my clothes off? I don’t want to stain them… unless you want them that way... then it would be fine.”

Was this inside Charlie from the beginning? Had she always had this lurking inside her…

“I don't want to do any of that Charlie” Vaggie had a worried knot shifting around her stomach as she looked back at Charlie, Charlie was sick… very sick.

“That’s okay! I can do it myself if you like, I’ve had plenty of practice! I promise Alastor always thought it was a good show, you’ll feel better after! Then maybe we could grab some breakfast together… if you wanted?” 

Self-mutilation… to breakfast, did Charlie think this was normal? Vaggie stared at her, Charlie was still trembling but her eyes were locked onto Vaggie as if nothing else mattered. Vaggie wasn’t angry any more, she was worried and scared. 

“Charlie… why are you doing this?” Charlie seemed to momentarily pause.

“... I need you… to not hate me.”

“Fuck sake Charlie, why are you so convinced I hate you? Or would want any of this!” The blonde fidgeted in place for a few moments before speaking softly out.

“... You didn’t let me in… you didn’t want to talk to me on the phone, after I… after I-I” Charlie screwed her eyes tight and screamed.

“AFTER I MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE AND SENT YOU AWAY!” She finally broke eye contact and in an instance was whispering again.

“I’m not strong like you Vaggie… I don’t know what to do… this is all I had left, you’re all I have.” 

“... Charlie.” Vaggie got no response, Charlie was still staring at the floor and her trembling was getting worse, it was almost out of place that she wasn’t crying, but her eyes were dry, she seemed to be in shock. Vaggie crossed the floor space and stepped carefully over the broken glass and sat on the sofa next to Charlie trying to meet her gaze, Charlie just turned her head away. 

Vaggie reached out and touched Charlie’s arm, her head slowly lifted, and she met Vaggie’s eyes. Her trembling seemed to lessen, and they just looked at each other over what seemed to be an eternity. Charlie’s eyes were wide, she looked terrified. Finally, Vaggie pulled Charlie into a hug, the blonde still had her arms clutched up to her chest and couldn’t move them as Vaggie wrapped around her.

“Charlie, I want you to tell me why you’re doing this, I just want to understand okay? I’m not going to get mad or hate you for anything you say… just please, help me understand.” Charlie seemed to freeze up before finally making a tiny nod, Vaggie hadn’t let go, so when Charlie whispered out her response Vaggie didn’t need to strain to hear it. 

“I get little rain clouds… When something bad happens… they make me anxious, It’s why I get panic attacks. You know I used to hurt myself… it helped clear the clouds. Then after Alastor, you asked me to stop… you became my umbrella. I was safe when I could tell you about my rain clouds… when I could hold you close. I let you blow away, and now I’m all alone in a storm.”

“Charlie, I didn’t know it was that bad.” Vaggie’s guilt weighed heavily in her words, she wanted to give Charlie the cold shoulder, but never imagined Charlie was suffering like this, it hurt her too.

_ Why did you keep this from me Charlie?  _

“I didn’t want you to worry about me, I’m not worth it.” Charlie stated it like it was fact, that it was so ingrained into her. How little she thought of herself. 

“Stop putting yourself down, y-” Charlie interrupted her and tried to pull away but was unable to free herself from Vaggie’s embrace, she almost sounded annoyed.

“I’m not worth it! I’m just a stupid, broken thing.” 

Vaggie’s breath caught in her throat, and she had to take a moment otherwise she would have shouted at Charlie again. 

“Charlie, you’re not! You’re sweet and silly, you make me laugh and you care about me when I’m feeling down. You’re not broken, you care so much about so many things!”

“V-Vaggie… I don’t deserve y-you.” Charlie’s voice begun to crack, Vaggie seemed to be getting through to her.

“You deserve to be happy hun, for yourself, even if you don’t think you do” Charlie had begun to sob.

“I-It’s s-so hard” Vaggie started to gently rock in place, cradling Charlie gently. 

“I know, I want to help you, but Charlie... I can’t be the only thing to support you, I can’t cope with that, you understand? I’m not abandoning you but I can’t be the only thing keeping you going. I want to help you find something else too, for when I’m not around…” 

Charlie didn’t answer but nodded silently into Vaggie’s shoulder, which was now getting wet. It looked like Charlie had found her tears again. Vaggie let go and pulled back from the hug and Charlie gasped.

“Oh no! I’m sorry…” Looking down Vaggie saw that her top had been stained red from Charlie’s palm, it had also been pressed into Charlie’s front as well, but at least the cut on her hand had healed.

“It’s okay, now get up and watch out for glass.” Stepping up she offered Charlie her hand, who took it and carefully stepped past the broken glass. She led her to the bedroom,

“You’re exhausted, get undressed and get in bed, ill just wait out here.” She moved out the room and waited, it didn’t take long before a small call chased after her.

“I’m done.” 

There was a small pile of Charlie’s clothes discarded at the foot of the bed and her face was poking out of the top of the covers. She did look exhausted, it couldn’t have been easy sleeping propped up against a doorway. Vaggie quickly took off her stained top and placed it next to the pile before getting a fresh one on. She laid on top of the bed, getting in and positioning herself next to Charlie.

“I know it’s going to be hard, but I want you to try to get some sleep, I’m not going to go anywhere until you go to sleep. When you wake up I want to talk more, okay?” 

Charlie nodded and rolled onto her side, curling up into a ball. Vaggie shuffled behind her to hold her softly, even through the covers it still made Charlie happy to know she was there.

“I love you Vaggie,”

“I know hun, I know.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was short, and it took me a while to get it written in a way I was happy to present. I felt that a shift of scene would lessen the story.


	12. Figuring It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie has a lot on her plate, Alastor has a pretty easy day.

Charlie was finally asleep, it had taken a while, neither of them had said anything. Vaggie hadn’t moved just as she promised and now Charlie’s rhythmic steady breathing filled the air. Carefully Vaggie sat up and looked down, while Charlie was sleeping she looked so peaceful. It would have been impossible to tell what sort of nightmare she was apparently living in.

Vaggie got out of bed, making sure not to disturb Charlie. Moving into the living she set about clearing up the broken glass, careful not to cut herself she deposited all the pieces into the bin. She sighed loudly after this was done and slumped on the sofa.

_ Charlie… I don’t know what to do… _

She lifted her knees and hugged into them, the next few hours Vaggie had a lot of thinking to do, and she hated every minute of it. 

***

The knock on the door made Alastor stir from his sleep, he had spent far to long the night before talking with Angel, when he had noticed the time and pointed it out Angel got embarrassed that had talked for so long and after a quick hug Alastor had headed back to his room. He still didn’t know what to think of Angel but for now he was enjoying their time together.

*knock knock* 

“Alastor?” Niffty’s voice called and Alastor’s eyes snapped open. He really didn’t want to deal with her right now. Flying out of bed he moved straight into the bathroom, closed and locked the door and got straight into the shower and turned it on.

He heard a key in the lock of his room as door was opened,

“Alastor?” She called again louder this time, he knew she could hear the shower running so had no choice but to answer.

“Yes my dear, just taking a shower… feel free to gather the bedsheets, I’ll have to give you these towels tomorrow!”

“Okay boss!” The tone of disappointment was obvious, but she offered no other words. Alastor tilted his head forward and let the hot water run down his back. He let out a static sigh. After a few minutes there was a gentle knock on the bathroom door that had Alastor turn his head.

“Alastor, if you’re almost done. I could wait for you? Just so you have the freshest towels possible!” She sounded almost desperate but it was hard to make out the exactly through the noise of the shower, he called back.

“I wouldn’t want to waste your time, my dear. I’m sure you’re busy and have places to be.” Niffty’s response was almost immediate.

“You could never waste my time, my infernal pr-” Niffty had abruptly stopped talking, there was a few moments of silence before Alastor heard his hotel door slam shut. 

_ What was that? _

Curiosity had spiked, Alastor wanted to get to the bottom of Niffty but his instincts were telling him that it was a very bad idea and it would be safest to stay away. He had never ignored his gut before and it had got him out of more trouble than he could recall. Instead, he would keep avoiding Niffty until it felt right to do otherwise. 

Getting out of the shower he dried himself off, moving back into his room he got dressed and took a seat, pulling his book towards him. He had no plans today and fancied some peace and quiet. 

***

Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

_ It’s not helping _

Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

**_WHY ISN’T IT HELPING?!_ **

Niffty was gripping the sides of the sink, her hands stung from scrubbing. She had run back to her room to clean her hands, to try to calm down. She gulped down some air before starting to laugh, her whole chest shaking.

“Fool, idiot, stupid!” 

She had made a mistake, Nifty was used to hearing Alastor’s voice when she couldn’t see him, he would sing her to sleep, wake her in the morning and cheer her up when feeling down. But that was  **her** Alastor, not the Alastor in the hotel room, not the Alastor whose touch is real, who came drunkenly into her room, who she pressed her body against.

She looked up at the mirror, tears streaming down her face… but she was still laughing and these weren’t tears of joy. Niffty let out a sob and shut her eye, she didn’t want to look any more.

The soothing voice filled her head, Niffty sniffed.

“I know, I thought it was you.” Her laughing quietened down as she listened.

“I just wish you were the same, what?… No! I can’t just tell him… I know he said that, but he was drunk, and he hasn’t been to see me since!” 

There was a pause and Niffty grabbed a small piece of toilet paper to blow her nose. An idea was whispered to her, it made the small demon smile.

“I guess I could try that… I’m sure he’s as romantic as you are… thank you.” She steadied her breathing, tidied up her hair

Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. Repeat. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry. REPEAT. Tap turned on, soap, scrub, Tap turned off, dry.

That was better, that time it felt clean. Once again presentable Niffty left to carry on with her work, a smile spread across her face.

***

Charlie stirred, her whole body ached, she wasn’t sure exactly when she had fallen asleep but Vaggie was true to her word and hadn’t left her side until she did, As Charlie shuffled back into the covers she was waiting to bump into Vaggie’s body, but the feeling never came. Blinking a few times she managed to open her eyes and looked around, Vaggie wasn’t in the bedroom, rolling over Charlie spotted a note resting on the other pillow. 

Pulling a hand out the covers, her arm got goosebumps, it was so warm in the bed compared to the outside air, she shivered and pulled the note towards herself and retreating back down into blankets.

**I’ve gone out for a few bits, If you’re reading this, I’ll be back soon.**

**Please don’t go anywhere.**

Charlie smiled at Vaggie’s handwriting, she wasn’t going to go anywhere… she was comfy and warm here and knew that Vaggie would come back. Rolling back over she got back into the same curled up position and soon found herself drifting into another nap.

She was only lightly sleeping, so when Vaggie put keys into the lock and opened the door Charlie woke up. She heard the rustling of bags and shuffling of footsteps, something dropped, and she heard Vaggie swear. 

“Vaggie?” Footsteps approached and the grey skinned beauty was standing by the bedroom door.

“Charlie you’re awake, did you see my note?” Charlie nodded sleepily and started to rub the sleep from her eyes.

“Yeah, did you get everything you needed?” 

“Yeah I did, How are you feeling Charlie?”

“A little better, thanks.” Charlie wanted another hug and was brave enough to venture outside the warm bed to get one. She slipped out the covers, cold air kissing her bare skin, and she shivered slightly. Vaggie had turned her face away, Charlie paused for a moment before continuing to move closer.

“Vaggie?” 

She blinked before turning back to look at Charlie, eyes locked onto her face.

“Sorry hun, just distracted.” 

Charlie wrapped her arms around her and cuddled in. Vaggie placed arms around the small of Charlie’s back and held her, It felt awkward. Charlie didn’t notice and pulled away and smiled, before shivering again and running back under the covers.

“Charlie, I’m just going to put the rest of the stuff away and then I’ll want to have a chat, is that okay?”

Charlie wasn’t looking as she was too busy curling blankets around herself, but she called back to Vaggie who was leaving the room.

“Okay, as long as I don’t have to leave the bed.”

Several minutes later Vaggie reappeared with a small book in her hand, it had a blank light red cover. She placed it next to Charlie and sat down on the bed looking at the tucked in blonde.

“I would like to try something, to help me, help you. Okay?” 

Charlie just nodded and looked a little uncomfortable. 

“This is because I want to help, that’s my choice. You’re not burdening me with anything Charlie.”

Charlie nodded again, but that’s exactly what she thought. Vaggie tapped the book with her hand.

“When something makes you feel down, can you write it in this book please? Try to write about why as well, is that okay? Could you do that?”

“I guess I could…” 

Vaggie tried to smile as best she could.

“Thank you, Charlie.” 

The blonde was looking straight at Vaggie, it almost felt like Charlie’s eyes were boring into her.

“Vaggie, Is something wrong?… I mean I know something’s wrong, Can you talk to me about it?”

“I’m just worried about you hun, that’s all it is.” Vaggie lied. 

“Come here then…” Vaggie smiled again and lent down as Charlie reached arms up and around her neck. Charlie placed several gentle kisses on Vaggie’s lips and whispered out to her.

“I’m so lucky to have you.”

Vaggie didn’t respond but simply kissed back. It didn’t help the guilt.

“So when you’re ready, should we pack up and get back to the hotel?”

“Together?” Charlie’s eyes seemed to glass over with a hopeful sheen. 

“Yeah.”

***

He had done it, he closed the last page of the book and placed it down on the table, without any interruptions Alastor had finally finished it, his smile grew a little wider. Angel was right, he did enjoy it. It may have taken most of the afternoon to do, but he wasn’t going to be doing anything else anyway.

He moved over to his rooms phone, and dialled the number for Angel’s hellphone, he didn't carry one himself and never regretted it.

“Err hello?” Angels confused voice cut through the receiver. 

“Afternoon Angel, are you doing well?”

“Oh Smiles, of course it was gunna be you, I figured you for more of a telegram kinda guy.” His soft laughter caused the radio demon grin.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No! I’d never do that! What sort of terrible thing would the big scary radio demon have in store for me then?” Angel was playing with his hands as he teased down the phone.

“I’m sure I would come up with something...suitable.” Alastor’s quiet reply sent a shiver down Angels spine.

_ God Smiles, keep talkin’ like that and I’m gunna lose it.  _

“I can only imagine what.” Angels response was a little more breathy than he would have liked. 

“Probably something slow, drawn out… it would have to take all evening.” Alastor was basically whispering.

A heat was forming in Angels stomach as squirmed in place.

_ Fuuuck, Smiles you know exactly what you’re doin’ I was supposed to be the tease.  _

There was a long pause and Angel couldn’t help but embarrass himself, his spare hand was already trying to slide down underneath his pants. 

“Don’t stop talking…” 

There was a static laugh 

“I’m going out for dinner, if you would care to join me, I’ll be in the lobby in thirty minutes.” The line went dead. Angel let out a frustrated moan.

“You fucker!” 

Angel thought about taking a few minutes to relieve himself now, but shook his head, It was Alastor’s fault, so he was going to have to deal with a pent-up Angel all night.

“Time to get ready.”

  
  
  



	13. Dinner date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor and Angel enjoy their first dinner date.

Sure Angel had been on dinner dates before, dressed to impress with a John wanting to flash their cash. Normally ended with Angel on all fours in the restroom, before having to clean up at a sink and make his own way home. 

This time however, he couldn’t contain his smile, his natural smile. Nothing forced with Alastor around, Angel felt comfortable. It was dimly lit in the restaurant they were sat down in, more for atmosphere than anything else. Angel was like a school girl with a crush, he couldn’t help but just watch Alastor eat, every one of his movements seemed to be graceful, from plate to mouth. Alastor had chosen a steak, of course he ordered it blue and it practically still had a heartbeat. 

Angel on the other hand couldn’t say no to a nice calzone, warm bread and cheese filled him with delight, even if it did look like he had hardly eaten any of it, so enraptured by watching Alastor.

“Angel, you’re staring again.” This snapped the spider back to reality, he shook his head and blushed.

“Sorry Smiles, I just can’t imagine how you’ve eaten that without makin’ any mess!” Alastor tilted his head.

“I’m not a Neanderthal, I can eat with delicacy and grace if I want to.” As if to make a point he placed a perfectly cut piece of meat straight into his mouth.

“I never said you couldn’t Smiles, its just surprising, that’s all” Angel took another piece of his calzone and chewed thoughtfully, swallowing he smiled at Alastor and then faltered slightly.

“T-This is nice, you know?” Alastor nodded,

“It's a perfectly respectable meal, yes.” Angel played with his fork across his plate

“That’s not what I meant… being here and not feeling like I’m being paraded around.” 

“That happen a lot Angel?” The spider nodded at Alastor’s question. 

“Yeah, dinner dates sound so glamorous, but really it’s just being shown around before getting fucked somewhere… still, least I charge more and get a free meal out of it.”

“I hope you’re not trying to get a free meal out of me Angel.” The spider laughed,

“Haha, No, I wouldn’t dare try to dine and dash you… Besides, I’m kinda lookin’ forward to desert.” Angel’s eyes were locked onto Alastor’s

There wasn’t a dessert menu. Alastor knew there wasn’t a dessert menu. He felt the colour rising in his cheeks. Angel wasn’t looking away, a new expression had spread across his face. Alastor almost choked when he felt a foot run up his leg under the table. 

“Are you so easily distracted Smiles?” Angels coy smile was almost taunting.

“No, you just caught me off guard, I am trying to eat.” Alastor was rolling his eyes, but that didn't stop Angel.

“Well… I guess I’ll just have to try harder…” The radio demon tensed as it brushed up past his thigh.

“Please don’t make it harder for me to finish my meal.” Alastor sighed, but the cheeky grin spreading all over Angels face made him smile and shake his head. 

“Hard-er? You’re already hard whilst eating and you need me to help you  **finish** ? I knew I was good” 

“That’s not what I meant, you’re just making things difficult!”

“Difficult? Don’t you mean I’m makin’ it  **harder** ?” Angel laughed when Alastor failed to respond, but he stopped and let Alastor continue his meal in peace. Angel, however was getting a bit hot under the collar, he might have been teasing Alastor, but it wasn’t the radio demon who was losing his composure. 

“Fuck, Smiles is it getting hot in here or something?” Angel was trying to waft a hand to cool his heating up face.

“No, I don’t think so.” Alastor was peering at Angel’s peculiar antics and took another bite. It was good meat, he savoured the taste.

“Fuck, haha.” Angel took a sip from his drink, that seemed to cool him a little. The rest of the evening Angel didn’t try anything else under the table, his heart was still racing. They split the bill and left. Angel thought for a moment and deciding to go for it, he looped his arm through Alastor’s as they walked together.

Alastor spoke first, as they walked down the street together. 

“Thank you for the company, It was nice.” Angel blushed and squeezed Alastor’s arm. 

“Don’t think my company has ever been called nice Smiles, you’re a real charmer.” There was a static laugh.

“Only for you, others find me much less charming.” Alastor had a sideways glance as they walked, Angel was looking up at him with a half lidded smile. He seemed so content, Alastor didn’t understand why his company was this enjoyable. 

“Well I don’t see any of those losers here, just us.” 

“All the better then.” The rest of their walk was comfortably quiet, and before you could blink they were back at the hotel. Angel cleared his throat to try to hide his enthusiasm. 

“It’s still pretty early Smiles, you fancy doing something else?”

“Did you have something in mind?” Alastor turned his head to look at the fidgeting spider. 

“N-No, just hang out or something?” Did he sound desperate? He hoped he didn’t sound desperate. 

“Come on then, let’s go back to mine.” Angel swallowed and nodded, allowing himself to be led forward. He was hoping for something, but was trying desperately to keep those thoughts out of his mind. 

Outside his door, Alastor paused and didn’t reach down for his keys, Angel had unlinked his arm and looked at him.

“Something wrong Smil-” he was cut off and gasped in surprise when Alastor pushed him against the closed door and pinned him to it.

“I don’t like being teased Angel.” 

Angel didn’t have time to respond, Alastor’s lips had found his. The whole of his body seemed to light up, and he just quietly moaned against Alastor. 

_ I fuckin’ need to do that more… fuck! _

Pulling away, Alastor still had Angel pinned, The spider was wide-eyed and breathing heavily his front plumage was rising and falling rapidly. Alastor lent in and nuzzled into the spiders soft neck, Angel let out a whimper.

_ It would be so easy… to tear out his throat.  _

Alastor’s teeth were razor sharp, he opened his mouth and gently bit Angel’s neck, 

“F-Fuck, Alastor!” The radio demon felt Angels extra hands wrap around and clutch at his back. This was different, to have someone he wanted to be kissing him, nipping at him. So much better than being paid to pretend, this was real and it had his insides writhing around in delight. He called out Alastor’s name and gasped. He really hoped he could stay quieter, if he attracted too much attention then Alastor might stop.

_ Don’t fuckin’ stop. _

They never heard the noise down the corridor, the sound of shock. They never saw the discarded card or the neatly wrapped present laying abandoned on the floor as footsteps quickly ran further away.

Alastor let go and stood back, Angel almost whined at the lack of his touch. To Alastor, this was a fine game. His heart was beating a steady rhythm, Angel was his marionette, Alastor the puppeteer. He wasn’t getting sexual gratification from this, but knowing that he could twist Angel this way and that, to make him cry out, to make his heart race… to control him, that was enough for the smiling radio demon.

“Do you want to come inside?” His calm question was directly opposite to Angel’s response, his chest still heaving, he panted out.

“If you don’t fuckin’ unlock this door right now, I’m knockin’ it down!” 

Alastor laughed as he unlocked the door and was almost pushed over as Angel rushed him in, slamming the door as he entered. Now it was Angels turn, three pairs of hands clutched at Alastor, pulling him close and running hands through his hair and over his chest. Angel planted kiss after kiss all over Alastor as he moved further into the room.

The radio demon grabbed Angel and threw him off and easily tossed him onto the bed. Angel basically squealed with delight and then had to cover his face from the embarrassment that he made such a stupid noise. Alastor was removing his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, Angel just stared hungrily as Alastor’s bare chest was revealed to him. 

Alastor crouched down onto the bed and reached his hands out to start undoing Angel’s top, the spider seemed to freeze in place just watching as Alastor undressed him. He doubted he could move if he wanted to, he was enthralled by Alastor’s actions and the briefest contact as his fingers brushed against Angel was enough to make him shudder. 

Hands were caressing Angels soft chest, the spider used one pair of hands to wrap themselves around Alastor’s neck as he leant down to Angel and kissed at his neck and bare shoulder. 

“Fuck Smiles! If you keep this up I’m gunna have to…” He was gripping his hands by his pants, Angel’s bulge was pressing against it causing the spider a small amount of discomfort. Alastor nipped his shoulder again and Angel moaned, the swelling was just getting worst. Alastor paused for a moment before whispering into Angels ear.

“You have my permission, go on…” 

Hells, Angel would have torn off his clothes if he was any quicker, His hands frantically pulling down his underwear, Lips locked in another kiss Angel closed his eyes as his eyes rolled up, it was the sweetest relief finally being able to touch himself. 

Clawed hands stroking his chest… Alastor’s hand’s. He felt kisses being placed on his neck again… Alastor’s lips. Opening his eyes Angel was met with Alastor’s piercing gaze, he was looking straight at him and the intensity and brightness of his eyes made Angel’s lip tremble. He placed a single hand on Alastor’s bare chest that ran delicately down towards his waistline and back up again, just feeling the contours of his skin and muscle. Angel didn’t look away, eyes locked together.

There was no acting, no showing off skills or pretending, Angel was just himself propped up against another. He couldn’t remember the last time he shared an experience like this, it would have made him a little sad if it wasn’t for the overwhelming rush of endorphins. Angel could feel it building, the end galloping closer, he pawed at Alastor, trying to get him to lean in for another kiss, he was unmoving, just staring down at the panting porn star.

“Alastor… please!” Angel’s begging was frantic as he tried to pull Alastor closer again, his lower hands working hard and fast as he began to tense up. Alastor considered it for a moment before giving in and lowering his head so that Angel could capture it in another kiss, a few precious moments later he was climaxing with a light moan, squirting strands straight up his chest, coating one of Alastor’s hands and across Angel’s own fur. Parting for breath Angel was grinning.

“That… was… pretty intense… Smiles!” 

“Good, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” Alastor started to remove his hand and get up but one of Angels arms stopped him.

“Do you want to?...” Angel’s eyes darted down to Alastor’s pants, the radio demon shook his head.

“I’m fine, thank you.” Angel let go and Alastor moved to the bathroom and started washing his hands clean. A minute later Angel joined him and moved straight in the shower.

“It’s a real piece of shit if you let it dry…” He let out a laugh as he turned on the hot water and scrubbed himself clean. Alastor had removed the last of his clothes and settled down into the bed. When Angel came in he started absent-mindedly grabbing his own discarded clothes and putting them on. 

“You going somewhere Angel?” Angel froze and looked down at what he was doing.

“Sorry, old habits an’ all. Just used to leaving after… well you know. You want me to stay?” He sounded hopeful and when Alastor nodded he smiled, and took his clothes back off before sliding into bed and curled up next to Alastor.

“This is comfy” Angel nuzzled his face into Alastor’s shoulder, feeling so content. The radio demon raised a hand and used a finger to play with Angel’s hair, he murmured with approval so Alastor continued. 

“So Angel, anything new happening?” Angel pondered for a few moments.

“Mmm, yeah, think Vaggie moved back in… lifetime too soon if you ask me.” Alastor tilted his head for a moment.

“... Oh?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter is a kinda Micro chapter but I want to include it.


	14. A rainy clouds Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first pages of Charlie's writing. This is basically a bonus chapter.
    
    
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**I’ll write this for you Vaggie. Don't know if or when you'll read it.**

**For your eyes only.**

**I’m sorry.**

**###**

**I dropped my toothbrush on the floor, I was clumsy, I’m always clumsy. How am I suppose to do anything, if I can't even move my own body without messing up.**

**###**

**Vaggie, you smiled at me. But its not the same smile, it’s not your smile. I think you’re hiding something from me. I don’t deserve your trust, do I?**

**###**

**I had to break up a fight with some guests, they said some mean things to me. I didn’t show it, but they were probably true… Am I delusional? Am I Insane?**

**###**

**I felt like having a nap, sleeping means I don't feel anything. I really struggle to just get out of bed, usually you wake me up. You convince me to get up.**

**###**

**When I’m alone, all I can think about is that I’m still alone even surrounded by people. It’s like I’m on an island by myself, I can only watch as people go by.**

**###**

**I had to ask for your help, I know you say it's not a problem, but I feel like a burden to you.**

**###**

**I don’t know why you want to talk to me about it, It’s not worth mentioning it, It’s just who I am, I feel like I’m wasting your time.**

**###**

**I look at you, you don’t feel like this, you’re strong so that must mean I’m weak.**

**###**

**I know you want me write down everything but, I’m scared I’ll make it worse.**

**###**

**For the first time, when I asked to make love, you said no, I get it… things are difficult right now, but I needed you close to me, it feels like you’re slipping away.**

**###**

**Thinking about you, I think you would be happier without me around, you said I shouldn’t say things like that, but I can’t stop thinking about it, I’m sorry.**

**###**

**Are you different, because I told you the truth? I should have been stronger, If I had kept it hidden better, maybe you would be happier? It seems simple, if I suffer so you don’t have to, that seems worth it… too late for that I guess. Just another thing I’ve ruined.**

**###**

**I called dad today, he seems to mean well, I think. But he says the wrong things, I think he can tell I still feel like this.**

**###**

**I’m afraid that I won’t ever see success for the hotel, Will the hotel be a failure because I’m a failure?”**

**###**

**You're different.**

**I'm scared.**


	15. Tell me that you love me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie finds honesty might not be the best policy. Alastor has a concerning morning.

Vaggie woke up first, stretching out she shifted carefully around the bed, Charlie was curled around her and was still asleep. Last night had been awkward, but Vaggie just wasn’t feeling that sex was right for them right now. Charlie seemed to have taken the news well enough, she froze before saying she understood. Instead, they had just cuddled until Vaggie fell asleep, she was almost certain that Charlie was still awake when she had drifted off. 

Carefully, she pried Charlie’s arm away as she slipped out of the covers, Charlie stirred as Vaggie wrapped the blankets back around the blonde. She paused for a moment to just look at Charlie’s face, she looked so peaceful and beautiful, and it made Vaggie’s heart ache. She let out a quiet sigh before moving into the bathroom and shutting the door. Getting into the shower she washed her hair and then reached around to do her back, Vaggie’s hair kept getting in the way, and she struggled to keep it to one side.

_Charlie always made this easier…_

It took longer than usual, drying off she just stood in the bathroom unsure of what she wanted to do now. Lowering the lid on the toilet she put a towel down and just sat on it, putting her face in her hands. 

“Dammit…” She hissed softly between her fingers. 

_Why does it have to be this hard? Why does it have to hurt this much._

She rubbed her eyes and groaned, worry sat heavy on her chest, and her stomach was in knots. Slow deep breaths helped her stomach, but nothing could shift the weight in her heart.

“...Vaggie?” Charlie’s voice cautiously called out from the doorway, she had opened the door. Vaggie didn’t lift her hands away from her head straight away, but slowly straightened up and looked over. Charlie was trying to smile, but she looked worried, she continued.

“How are you feeling this morning, you sleep okay?”

“I’m fine hun, I slept okay, what about you? I think I fell asleep first.” Vaggie smiled back, this didn’t cause the look of concern to disappear, if anything Charlie looked more anxious, she spoke softly back.

“Yeah you did, It was okay… I wrote some things down, like you asked… you err, you’ve already showered?” Charlie looked dissatisfied at the shower, she had always enjoyed showering together, it was relaxing.

“I didn’t want to disturb you, when I woke up.” That stabbed a pain in Charlie’s heart, how many days ago was it that Vaggie had kissed her awake just so they **could** have a shower together. She was dwelling on the negative thought for too long and laughed nervously, not wanting to leave an awkward silence. 

“Well I hope you left me some hot water, haha.” Vaggie seemed to not notice her floundering laugh.

_… Or not care._

“Of course I did hun, I’ll leave you to shower,” Vaggie went to start getting up.

“... You could stay if you want, we could just talk for a bit?” 

_Please, Vaggie… please stay._

“I’m starting to get cold, I want to get dressed now Charlie, sorry. We can talk after you’re done.” 

“... oh, okay.” Charlie passed Vaggie, with a sideways glance she seemed to be studying Vaggie’s expression, getting in the shower she turned it on as Vaggie folder up the towels and left the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Head directly under the shower, Charlie felt the hot water starting to burn her scalp, but she didn’t care, irritation, frustration and anger was starting to fill her mind. She clutched hands to the side of her head and crouched down as she started to hyperventilate. 

Putting a fresh set of clothes on, Vaggie listened to the gentle noise of the shower running, debating whether she should leave now to get on with the day, or she could read what Charlie had written, the book was just resting on a desk a few paces away. She took a few steps towards it.

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAH!** ”

The scream that came from the bathroom made her jump, as Vaggie spun around the bathroom door swung up. Charlie was standing there dripping wet, the shower still running in the background water spraying out and onto the floor.

“Char-” Charlie interrupted Vaggie and was shouting, it wasn’t angry shouting it sounded more desperate. 

“TELL ME YOU LOVE ME!” Vaggie eye went wide, but she knew what Charlie had come to suspect. Vaggie was never good at hiding things. Still, she had to ask.

“What are you talking about Charlie?”

“ **TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME!** I can tell you’re different, I know you’re hiding it! Just say the words! So I know you’re still here.” 

Vaggie hesitated for a moment, and she knew that was a mistake, Charlie eyes were wide, the silence only interrupted by water hitting the floor inside the bathroom.

“It’s. It’s not that simple.” Vaggie started to cross the room, Charlie didn’t stop shouting.

“ **YES IT FUCKING IS VAGGIE** ” Vaggie had reached Charlie, despite being soaked she tried to pull Charlie into a hug, Charlie tried to fight her off, but didn’t have the strength or energy to resist.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” She sounded hysterical. Vaggie pulled her in tightly, she already felt her clothes soaking through.

“Its not simple, life isn’t black and white…” Charlie sobbed, she refused to move her arms to hug Vaggie back.

“This should be! This should be the simplest question to answer.” Vaggie had to steady her breathing, she spoke slowly to make sure that Charlie could hear here over the sound of her own ragged breathing. 

“It’s not Charlie… and the truth is, I don’t know.”

Charlie’s heart shattered.

*** 

_How?_

Alastor was looking down in bed, during the night somehow Angel had managed to rotate and his head was resting on the radio demons stomach curled up so that his legs just stuck off the side.

Angel had his mouth open slightly as he quietly snored away. Alastor could feel the small wet patch under Angels head, he was drooling on him slightly, of course he was. Alastor wanted to get up, the morning was marching on, and he wanted to move with it, but Angel looked so comfortable, and his fur was so gentle on Alastor’s chest. 

He just ran a finger through Angel’s hair and absent-mindedly played with it as he laid his head back down and he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure how long had passed before Angel woke, it was with a kiss on his stomach that caused him to open his eyes again. Angel was looking up at his face with a sleepy smile. 

“Hey Smiles… you’re still here.” Angel blinked a few times and stretched a little.

“You were on top of me, I couldn't go anywhere.” Angel laughed softly at Alastor’s response

“Coulda just moved me off.” Alastor paused, but he didn’t want to move Angel.

“I didn’t think it would be polite to wake you.” Angel smiled again, Alastor was just a big sweetheart if you looked deep enough.

“Thanks… about last night…” Angel’s eyes darted around a little.

“What about it?” Alastor had enjoyed making Angel call out his name and writhe around, so why did Angel sound so uncertain.

“I, um, I don’t make you uncomfortable, do I? Bein’ me… It’s just I don’t think I've ever… done that last night and not, you know… taken care of your business?” Angel seemed uncomfortable, he didn’t want to push this conversation too far. 

“It’s fine Angel, truly. I’ll let you know if I want anything like that, trust me.” Angel’s response caught Alastor off guard. 

“Of course I trust you Smiles…” He said it so promptly and with such certainty. 

_Are you deluded? Or lying to me._

Angel planted another kiss and distracted Alastor with the flicking of his tongue. 

“So you really don’t mind if I… around you?” Alastor ran a hand down Angels neck.

“It’s fine really.”

“Oh thank fuck Smiles, I’d have to go cum in your fuckin’ shower. This mornin’ wood fuckin’ driving me mental.” 

This was the normal Angel antics Alastor was used to, he let out a static laugh as Angel shuffled around, so he could get easier access to himself. 

“Mmmm, Shut up! Its… not funny!” 

It was a curious thing to watch, Alastor was staring down, watching the sheets move rhythmically as Angel touched himself, he could feel Angel’s hot breath spreading across his chest as his breathing became heavier and faster, feeling the heat emanating from the spiders checks turned a flushing red. Angel was just staring up at Alastor, this was good. So good. 

A lusty smile spread on his face.

“Say… Something Smiles… please.” Angel panted out. Alastor considered it for a few moments, and returned his hand to continue running through Angels hair. 

“Are you enjoying yourself Angel? You enjoy resting on me?” Angel moaned and kissed down on Alastor’s chest again.

“Mmm yes.” Alastor started using the tips of his fingers to gently rake down Angel, he moaned and started moving his hands faster. 

“I can feel your face getting hotter, are you working hard?” Angel had closed his eyes now as he continued, he almost forgot to answer.

“... Y-Yeah”

“Would it be nice if I just gently reached down and touched your…” Alastor’s whisper never got finished as Angel tensed up. 

“F-f-fuck, yes!” Angel’s hips buckled as he came on the bedsheets. He opened his eyes again, and grinned. 

“Think I just made a mess…” he laughed and moved the sheets away so it wouldn’t get on either of them.

“Would you like to accompany me for breakfast?” Alastor finally got out of bed once Angel moved his head off him. 

“Sounds good Smiles, I could use a drink too.” Angel laughed again. 

A knock at the door caused them both to stop, Angel looked questioningly at Alastor who nodded.

“Niffty, I’m just getting dressed I’ll let you in, in a moment.” There was no response, Alastor shrugged and continued to get dressed. After a couple of minutes he made sure that both himself and Angel were presentable he moved to the door and opened it.

Niffty was standing perfectly still on the other side. She was looking straight ahead and barely moved her head up to acknowledge Alastor opening the door. She wasn’t wearing her usual smile and her hands looked red and slightly raw. The radio demon paused for a moment,

“Good morning Niffty, It appears I'm getting more lax in my time keeping, my apologies for keeping you waiting.”

Niffty’s response was strange. As if she was having two conversations at once, but try as he might Alastor couldn’t understand half of what she was saying.

“ ~~You lied to me~~ That’s okay, I don’t mind waiting. ~~I loved you, did you even know how much I loved you?~~ I can come back later if its easier?” She still wasn’t smiling and barely looked at Alastor’s face as she spoke, occasionally she would glance up, but it was only for a fleeting moment. 

“No, It’s fine now.” Alastor stepped to one side and let her enter. She stopped dead and was staring at Angel when she saw him in the room, he smiled and offered a wave.

“Mornin’ short stuff, bit early to start ain’t it?” Angel smile faltered.

“ ~~This is your fault~~ I quite enjoy an early start, Always been an early riser. ~~You took him from me, you make me fucking sick~~ But probably for the best the hotel gets filthy!” 

Angel didn’t quite know how to respond, Niffty was just staring at him, unblinking and without a trace of her usual smile. After a few moments she seemed to realize and started to move again, stripping the bed down. The bed smelt of Angel mixed with Alastor, she didn’t need to look for very long at the sheet to know what that wet stain was.

“ ~~You defiled his bed~~ Don’t let me keep you, I can lock up! ~~How much bleach will I need after I’m done with you, Angel whore?~~ I’m sure you’re both super hungry! Better get some breakfast!”

“Sure… I guess.” Angel cautiously moved round Niffty as she continued to strip the bed, her pupil tracked him like a laser. Getting out of the room Angel shut the door and looked over to Alastor who looked almost as confused as he did.

“The fuck was that about Smiles?”

“I’m not sure… but watch out for her okay?”

Niffty, now alone let a twitchy smile spread across her face as she started to laugh, tears spilling down from her eye.

  
  



	16. Wash, Obsess, Cry, REPEAT,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie and Charlie continue an awkward conversation, and Alastor gets his detective hat on.

“... You don’t know.” It wasn’t a question, more like deflated statement. Charlie and Vaggie were sat on the bed side by side. Vaggie was looking at Charlie and trying desperately to figure out how to hand this as delicately as possible. Charlie was just staring down at the floor, her face like a lifeless doll, eyes glazed over. 

“ You don’t know.” She repeated, Vaggie tried to squeeze her hand but got no response. 

“I didn’t want to lie Charlie, I just wasn’t ready to talk about it.” Charlie wasn’t moving, eye’s unblinking, she barely moved her lips to speak out.

“Why don’t you just leave…” Vaggie didn’t remove her hand from Charlie’s. This was Vaggie’s fault, but she couldn’t have lied to Charlie, not when she was trying so hard to get Charlie to open up to her. Could have had better timing, but recently life was dealing her terrible hand after terrible hand. 

“Do you want me to go?” Vaggie asked, Charlie’s eyelid twitched and her hand started gripping her own leg.

“...no” She whispered out, Vaggie tried to get the blonde’s attention with a smile but got nothing.

“And neither do I.” Even if Charlie had asked her to leave, Vaggie wasn’t going anywhere, she couldn’t trust that Charlie wouldn’t do something self-destructive. For the next day or, so she would have to watch her carefully, Even if it meant…

_ That you hate it. I’m never going to abandon you Charlie.  _

“I was right, wasn’t I? I’m too broken to be loved.” A silent tear escaped and slide down her pale cheek, she wasn’t sobbing, her chest was still, she just felt empty. Vaggie reached up and physically turned Charlie’s face to look at her, She just stared blankly at Vaggie’s worried features, unfocused and unmoving. 

“That’s not true Charlie. Not one bit.” Charlie blinked and her eyes locked onto Vaggie, there was a spark of anger in her voice now.

“Then why can’t you say it? Why. Don’t. You. Know?”

“Charlie, I’m hurting too, I don’t want to leave you. I want to help you, I really do… I want to be here… but you lied to me, a lot. I hate to see you suffer, it makes me feel awful. I know it means I still care, I just don’t know what that means.”

“... I hurt you?” Charlie’s expression softened, she felt the pain cutting through her numb body.

_ I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her. _

Vaggie’s voice penetrated in and caused Charlie to stir. 

“Charlie don’t focus on that.” Charlie would have laughed at that if she could get anything out more than a whisper. 

“How can I not Vaggie? If all I can do is hurt you… If me loving you, hurts you… oh god… I’m a monster.” She balled up her fists and started breathing heavily, then paused. Vaggie had taken both of her hands and unfurled one of Charlie’s fists and just interlocked her fingers and squeezed gently again.

“No! You’re not, you’re not a monster, you’re not broken. You’re just sick, and I want to help you get better.” Another tear rolled down Charlie’s face and to her surprise, Vaggie was crying too.

_ Vaggie… Don’t cry for me. _

“You should leave me... it would be better if you did. I don’t think I can get better Vaggie.” Charlie was suddenly pulled into another hug, she didn’t move her arms and just sat there tilted on one side as Vaggie grabbed her. 

“Bullshit, How often did you hurt yourself when we first started dating?” Charlie stuttered with embarrassment, trying to think back, taking a small breath she spoke. 

“N-not a lot, only on really bad days.” The euphoria of meeting someone like Vaggie, after being alone and misunderstood for so long, she hardly had any bad days at all. Vaggie didn’t let go or relent.

“And were you faking all the smiles and moments we shared?” Charlie shook her heard, of course she hadn’t, it was the start of something truly magical for Charlie, meeting her soul mate.

“No…” Vaggie smiled through her own tears and tried to squeeze her again, trying to get some response, it wasn’t helping.

“There you go, I know I can’t snap my fingers and you’ll be all better, but we can aim for that, and then go from there, can’t we?” Charlie’s mouth twitched a small smile for the briefest of moments, then she lost it and her face fell again. 

“I guess… until you just leave, when you’re sick of me not getting better.” Vaggie pulled away and tried move Charlie’s head towards her again, Charlie was resisting and desperately just staring at the floor. 

“Look at me!” Charlie sniffed and finally looked into Vaggie eye, Vaggie look worried, but it looked like she really did care. It hurt Charlie’s heart to see her like this.

“Charlie, I promise that I won’t just abandon you, and **if** … yes it’s still an if. If we don’t work out, I swear that I won’t just leave. I’ll talk with you at every step. I know that this won’t make you feel better, but I promise that it’s the truth.”

“... Okay.” Charlie flat response get the reaction that she probably should have expected.

“Charlie… you don’t sound convinced.” Charlie sighed and tried to shuffle away on the bed, just putting a bit of distance between the two of them helped.

“I’m not… but that’s okay, we’ll just have to see. Vaggie I want to do some more writing… get my rain clouds out of my head. Can you not read it any more? I’ll still do it for you… I just don’t want you to read it.”

“Because it will be about me?” Vaggie couldn’t blame her for it, she just wished that she could help take away Charlie’s hurt.

“...” Charlie didn’t say anything, but instead nodded slightly. 

“Okay, I won’t read it. Well done for wanting to keep trying.” Trying her best to not sound patronizing, Vaggie reached out and held onto Charlie’s shoulder, the blonde paused for a moment before getting up and moving towards the door. 

“I’m kind of hungry. I might go get some breakfast.” Vaggie got up to and asked,

“Would you like me to come with you?” Charlie stopped before nodding and quietly spoke out

“... Yes please.” 

***

“I’m workin’ later Smiles, sorry!” Alastor nodded, Looks like he would be alone this afternoon and evening. They were sat together eating breakfast, other demons were filtering in now and then, out of the corner of his eye he saw Charlie and Vaggie enter. 

Charlie looked very fragile, and Vaggie was only a few steps behind her. The grey soul meet Alastor’s gaze, and she just kept eye contact for a few moments before snapping back and sitting down with Charlie, they were speaking softly together.

Interesting, that was the first time Vaggie had looked at him and not scowled or swore. Alastor turned his attention back to Angel. 

“That’s fine my dear, we’ve all got to earn our way after all.” Angel laughed.

“Pretty odd way of lookin’ at it. I’ve just got some debts to pay off and I better not leave them hangin’ over me.” 

“See you tomorrow then.” Alastor was finished up eating, and with a day free ahead he thought about what he might want to do. A couple of things flashed to mind. Angel grinned.

“Not too early, I might be hanging bad!” Alastor nodded and lent in a gave Angel a quick hug getting a surprised gasp.

“The big bad radio demon, hugging a poor porn star in public! The scandal!” A static laugh followed.

“Who would dare spread such malicious rumours?” Alastor flashed a dangerous smile.

“People who didn’t want all their limbs.” Angel finished. “Guess I’ll catch ya later Smiles!”

He got to the entranceway and turned back, waved and then blushed before scurrying off. Angel was always bad at being embarrassed. Alastor stretched as he got up. Curiosity had eroded his will and Alastor moved quickly off, giving a final glance towards Charlie and Vaggie. They weren’t arguing but neither of them looked particularly happy, mental note to check on that later. 

Several corridors later he was at his destination, his and Angel’s encounter with Niffty had tipped the scales and now he wanted to try to get to the bottom of her strange behaviour. He looked both directions down the corridor before slipping down under the doorway into Niffty’s room.

He almost had to do a double take, the room number was right, the size was right. But how could this be her room? Mess was everywhere, discarded piles of washing, looked like the contents of her chest of drawers, even her mattress was lying strewn on the floor. Alastor had a lot to hunt through, but he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as he has done in the past. Stepping across he opened the window a crack, that would be his escape if he needed it. 

Alastor might not have a look out but if he kept quiet enough he would hear the key enter the door and give him enough time to get out of the window. He stepped into the small bathroom first. Looks like everything was on the floor here too. 

_ What’s that? _

He bent down and picked up, a blooded patch of iron wool, what was she scrubbing? The sink still had red stains flecked around its rim, he placed a finger and ran it across them.

_ … Dried. _

He kicked across the loose bandages lumped on the floor and revealed the pair of scissors underneath. They were clean, it was a strange sensation that whenever he saw scissors now he expected them to be bloodied. Picking over the rest of the items Alastor discovered nothing else. 

Moving back into the main room he started rummaging, being careful to place items back where he found them, for the most part it was just ordinary clothes discarded everywhere, it looked as if they had just been thrown around. It’s when he got to the mattress and bed frame, did things start to appear. A smashed glass and a broken candle lay discarded under the bed.

Reaching down Alastor turned over a photo of himself in his hands. It had clearly been torn up into tiny pieces and then put back together, the back of the photo was a mass of tape and bloodied small finger prints. The face of the photo was still spotless. Alastor put it back, concern was growing.

_ Have I seen that photo before? _

Lying just off the side of the mattress rested a red piece of phallic rubber, Alastor did not pick that up, he wasn’t a moron, it wasn’t clean, in fact…

_ Is that more blood? _

Unsettled would have been a good way to describe how Alastor felt. He had known about Niffty’s mania and her tendency to obsess compulsively over little details. He assumed she probably had murdered someone and then killed herself after loosing control of the situation before finding herself down in hell. Alastor had never asked to find out and frankly, he didn’t care enough to ask in the first place. 

But this was starting to directly influence his day to day. Would this mean he would have a target on his back? A noise outside snapped him back with sudden concentration, a key in the lock. Now was the time to leave, Alastor quickly slipped straight out the window and his shadowy form flitted away. 

Niffty stepped back into her room, the mess made her skin crawl, but she didn’t have the energy to start, If she started to clean she would have to finish all of it, right now that wasn't a possibility. She slumped down on the mattress and grabbed at the photo, wincing as she pinched too hard and hurt her fingers, they were still sore. 

“I’m sorry, but you needed to be punished!” She stroked the photo’s cheek with her free hand as she stared at it.

“It’s okay, I forgive you… It wasn’t your fault.” She gritted her teeth.

“Once I make you forget all about that whore, you’ll feel better again, It’s just twisting your thoughts!” Niffty brought the photo down and gently kissed it. 

“Soon, my infernal prince… soon you’ll be just mine. I just need to show you.” A thought flashed up and she smiled. Tonight was going to be a good night.

_ Where am I going to get a syringe from? _


	17. A Rainy Journal Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Page from Charlie's notebook.

****

*******

**I’m still writing this for you, I don’t want you to read it yet, afterwards I’m sure you will. My thoughts are all jumbled up I'm trying to reach in and just pull one out at a time but its hard… it’s always hard.**

**My one love,**

*******

**I never did say, but you were the reason I came back after Alastor did what he did. How bad is that? I couldn’t find a reason to live for myself, but I didn’t want to leave you… but now you might leave me? What does that leave me with?**

*******

**You enjoyed me being upset with Alastor, I know how much you hate him… I only hated him because he took too long to get it over with… big shock right?**

*******

**You said that you would stay by me, even when you end us. Was that supposed to be a comfort? It wasn’t. It’s like putting me in a cage at the zoo and you're just standing on the other side of the bars, you could walk away whenever… you’re not stuck in the cage.**

*******

**You fit me perfectly you know? Like we’re two different puzzle pieces with different pictures on them but for some reason we fit together. The thought of being without you makes me feel lopsided.**

*******

**I know you’re going to leave me, I don’t know why you expected me to believe that there’s a chance… It’s a fools hope Vaggie, I’m not a fool… just hopeless.**

*******

**I think I preferred being sad or angry. Feeling empty like this, it’s eating away at me. Maybe that’s for the best, A rotten, broken tree in your garden finally being felled.**

*******

**Back to that garden thing I just wrote, it came so naturally must be my dad’s influence, Mr Greenthumb. You know he has more than just an orchard, he grows flowers too, for as long as I can remember he would always give mom fresh flowers. I knew you would like it there, I just never had the courage to take you, going home always scared me. Maybe, when I'm gone, Dad might let you see it?**

*******

**I kind of got lost in a train of thought there, but it is something I’ve thought about. When you leave me, you said that you will still be looking out for me. Is that going to stop you moving on? Am I going to hold you back from finding new happiness?**

*******

**It’s a hard feeling to describe so here goes… I don’t want to kill myself, but I don’t think I can live any more.**

*******

**You were everything to me.**

**You were the reason I kept living.**

**You were the reason I kept going.**

**You were the reason I could smile.**

**You were the reason I could get out of bed.**

**You were the reason I could get through the difficult days.**

**You were the reason I could clear the rainy clouds away.**

**You were the reason I was happy being myself.**

**You were the reason.**

**And now you’re gone.**

*******

**Am I waiting to lose all courage? Or am I waiting to gain some and finally do something.**

*******

**I want to close my eyes and not have to open them again.**


	18. Taken and Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor finds himself the architect of his own trouble, Charlie enjoys spending time with Vaggie.

It was over before it really began. With or without Angel, Alastor still wanted to eat somewhere different tonight so had taken to the streets. He mused that Angel’s company would have been better but solitude came a close second, it allowed Alastor to catalogue his thoughts of the day.

Most of these revolved around Niffty, she almost felt like a threat, well at least that his gut was telling him.

_ Threats should be eliminated. _

The fact that Niffty seemed to be obsessing her whole existence around Alastor meant nothing to him, it was a novelty at best. No, getting rid of her completely negates any risk associated. It is the smartest and most lethally efficient play. 

That was the radio demons preferred modus operandi, but with the way it stood now he was bound under Charlie’s deal not to kill or harm any hotel staff or guests, it was the iron tight rule that she had given him, and Alastor really didn’t like the idea of Lucifer coming to enforce it. 

Alastor had already danced with the line a bit too much anyway, he had certainly wilfully psychologically tormented souls, and he seemed to get away with that, but he dare not risk going further. 

He turned and headed down into a side alleyway, a small shortcut he knew. That’s when it happened. His hairs stood on end on the back of his neck as his ears pricked the sound of something very fast moving towards him. He hadn’t even managed to turn around in time before he felt something Sharp jab straight into his back and a foreign liquid being pushed forcefully into him. 

Alastor growled and swung a clawed hand round to try to cleave the assailant, She darted back as quickly as she came in, easily avoiding him. As Alastor stepped round his right leg buckled, and he fell to one knee, he couldn’t feel his leg any more. The numbness was spreading and as he tried desperately to stand back up, all he achieved was to stumble backwards onto his back as both legs now failed him completely. 

His chest felt heavy and his eyesight was starting to go in and out of focus, the footsteps were back, ringing out, every noise seemed to be reverberating inside Alastor’s head, as he lost consciousness Niffty just drifted into his view, clutching something, sharp and dripping. She was smiling.

_ Oh… No… _

Darkness.

***

Alastor stirred, his senses seemed out of focus and trying to move his body he found he couldn’t, it didn’t feel responsive. There was a dull ache from his arm. Something small and warm was pressing its way across up his neck, leaving tiny wet marks as it went. He groaned and opened is eyes. 

Niffty stopped kissing him and ran her hands through Alastor’s hair. She whispered into his ear.

“I’m glad you were awake, I was getting lonely.”

Niffty kissed behind Alastor’s ear. It made his skin crawl, and he struggled again, but still couldn’t move. There was a clinking noise of chains rattling. He looked down to see that he was indeed tied to a metal chair by dark iron links. Splashes of red marked points on some links. 

He might be groggy, but he could easily escape this, he turned into shadow to try to slip through the chains, they turned to shadow too and bound him in place. Alastor gasped as he winded himself trying to move forward. Turning corporeal again he looked down, runes were lit up brightly all over the chains, his runes… written in blood, his blood.

His arm ached again and finally looking down at it, it was bandaged up.

“I’ve watched you for so long…” Niffty was still running her hands through his hair, Alastor couldn’t turn his head enough to look at her, but he was almost certain that she was smelling his hair. He could feel her shudder as she inhaled. 

“... It’s surprising what you can learn just from watching. I needed to make sure you couldn’t leave, not until…” Niffty trailed off. Alastor tried to work his jaw into moving, it was slow, and he felt like he was drunk.

“Let… me… out.” It was a struggle to form even basic sentences.

Niffty moved round and in one fluid motion had straddled across Alastor’s hips. 

“Sorry, but I need to clean you from that whore’s influence… then you’ll see what's best for you.”

“What… the … fu-” Niffty’s hand came round quick and slapped Alastor straight across the cheek, she looked annoyed.

“Don’t swear! See, you never swear, It’s all  **HIM** , I’ll make you see, don’t worry.” Her face softened, and she leant forward to kiss the reddened mark of where she had slapped.

“It’s for your own good, you’ll thank me.” Alastor’s eyes were narrowed, he refused to say anything else. Niffty was just gently stroking his cheek now.

“I knew, as soon as you came into my room that night. That we were meant to be.” Niffty let out a laugh that didn’t come across as that natural or calm.

_ What? _

“You were so drunk you couldn’t even see straight! But you came to me, you appreciated me! I knew what it meant, I was so excited.” Her expression darkened.

“Then I saw that whore all over you… I saw the way he twisted your head around! I thought about taking him instead. But this way! We can spend some time together, I can show you what you’re missing!”

Alastor still didn’t respond, he started looking at his surroundings, he wasn’t in one of the hotel rooms, there wasn’t a window in sight. It looked like some kind of storage room. Where on hell was he? He finally looked back at Niffty, who seemed to just be staring at him, inches from his face. She was still on his lap and it made Alastor even more uncomfortable with the way she was gently grinding her hips back and forth seemingly absent-mindedly. 

“Alastor, I was thinking.” She softly whispered out, a finger playing with his shirt button.

“Last time we spoke in bed, you promised you would be awake for next time we, well you know.”

Alastor blinked, he was certain he had never spoken to Niffty about anything of the sort.

“No…” 

Niffty started undoing the top buttons of his shirt.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll remember soon.” Undoing the first few buttons she slid his shirt down and off his shoulders, it got stuck at the first length of chain, just above his elbow. She furrowed her brow.

_ Hadn’t thought this through have you Niffty? When I get my chance, you’re done. _

She seemed to be reluctant at first, but she slid off Alastor’s legs and disappeared behind him. He heard a jangle of Chains.

“If I take these off, you promise you’ll behave?”

“Yes… My… Dear.” The lie was too easy.

“Oh good, I knew you’d understand. I promise I’ll wait, I don’t want to start without you waking up first.”

“Wait… what?” He felt the familiar sting as a needle was pushed firmly into his neck.

_ Smar- _

Darkness.

***

Charlie finished writing, looking down sadly at the last line, she let out a quiet sigh, her hands were trembling, but she closed the book and placed the pen down next to it. Writing about her feelings brought them close to the surface, she had to steady herself before turning around in her chair.

Vaggie was propped up on the bed reading paperwork, something to do with hotel admin she had picked up from the front desk, She glanced over in Charlie’s direction and realized she had finished and was just watching her read, Charlie had a strange facial expression, as if she was trying to memorize Vaggie’s face. 

“You done, hun?” Charlie blinked a few times and seemed to realize what she was doing, and answered. 

“Y-yeah, I don’t want to write anything else.” Vaggie nodded, she was glad Charlie was trying, she really wanted to help.

“Are you a little feeling better? Charlie smiled sheepishly.

“Maybe, I guess… I don’t really know, but I’m trying.” Vaggie gently smiled back.

“Don’t worry, it’s nice that you’re doing something new, anything you want to do now? You want to go somewhere?”

“No, I kinda just want to… cuddle for a bit, if that’s okay?” What an alien thing, to ask permission for a hug, but Charlie didn’t know where she stood with Vaggie any more.

“That’s fine, hun.” Vaggie patted a space next to her on the bed and put the paper down off the side onto the floor.

Charlie got up and laid down on top of the bed next to Vaggie, without thinking she reached a hand under the bottom of her top and placed a hand on Vaggie’s stomach. Charlie froze up and glanced up.

“Sorry, is this okay?” Vaggie tilted her head and gently bumped Charlie.

“Its fine, your hand is really warm.” Charlie sighed and closed her eyes, she just needed some skin to skin contact. Even if it was temporary it made her feel less alone. She wriggled around to get a bit closer and felt Vaggie reach up and start running her fingers through Charlie’s hair. 

It was bittersweet, Charlie loved it when Vaggie played with her hair, but her heart sank when she thought about how much could she really enjoy this? As Vaggie gently brushed her fingers down the length of Charlie’s blonde hair, when would be the last time? When would Vaggie pull her hand away for it to never return. Charlie screwed her eyes tight, she didn’t want to start crying right now, she wanted to enjoy these moments, as few as they may be, and was desperately trying to think of something else. 

“What’s up?” Vaggie’s question interrupted Charlie, and she paused stroking her hair. Charlie daren't risk speaking, so just shook her head and pressed it into Vaggie’s side.

“That’s okay, whenever you’re ready.” Vaggie continued the stroking motions.

“Thank you.” Charlie whispered out, eyes still shut, but she was enjoying the feeling of warmth emanating from Vaggie. They didn’t speak for a long time, just holding one another, it must have been close to fifteen minutes before Charlie eventually opened her eyes. She shuffled up, so she was eye level with Vaggie and was just watching her, large eyes wide and soaking in every detail on her face. 

It was an intense stare and it almost made Vaggie feel uneasy, she moved her head.

“Have I got something on my fa-” Se was interrupted as Charlie moved her hands up and gently held Vaggie’s cheek as she leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t hard or passionate but was so intimate it took Vaggie’s breath away. It was gentle, Charlie was pouring herself into it, Vaggie’s eyes had closed and Charlie was watching as the slow spread of a blush spread across her grey cheeks. 

Charlie pulled back and the spell was broken, Vaggie’s eyes fluttered open, and she bit on her bottom lip trying to keep hold of the feeling that was fading, her heart was beating far more rapidly than it should for someone laid down. 

“C-Charlie, that was…” Charlie didn’t say anything but just cuddled back into the crook of Vaggie’s neck and wrapped arms around her, she held her tightly but not restrictive.

“Can we have a nap together, and then go get some dinner?” Charlie was murmuring but Vaggie just about heard her. 

“Okay, whatever you want.” Vaggie settled herself down but didn’t roll over, she was enjoying Charlie’s warm breath against her neck it gave her goosebumps. Slowly Vaggie’s breathing became shallow as she drifted into a calm sleep. 

A few minutes later Charlie gently sat up, looking down sadly at the sleeping Vaggie.

“I love you.”

***

Vaggie woke up and stretched her arm out expecting to find Charlie’s warm body, instead her hand met nothing but sheets. She blinked the sleep out of her eye and looked around, the room was empty. Sitting up quickly, a knot of worry started to form. The bathroom door was open, so Charlie wasn’t there, getting up she called out just in case.

“Charlie?” No response. 

Reaching down Vaggie picked up her phone, she quickly scrolled through and called Charlie.

“Come on, Come on...”

***Bzzt Bzzt***

The noise caused Vaggie to spin around quickly, Charlie’s hellphone was vibrating across the desk on the other side of the room. She quickly moved over to it and just stared down at the picture displayed on the phone screen, A selfie Charlie had taken with both of them smiling. She could only stare at it, until it disappeared and a missed call icon appeared. 

Panic setting in, Vaggie looked around for anything, any hint that Charlie might have left. Everything was still here… everything except her journal. 

“Oh god… Charlie?” 

  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	19. Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor has control taken from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short and contains only a single scene, if you find non-consensual acts deeply disturbing I would recommend simply skipping this chapter.

For the second time now, Alastor awoke groggily, tied to the same metal chair with the same metal chains binding him in place. This time however, he was naked. It felt like he was in a fresh new hell, his humiliation and shame were plain to see. 

With no view to the outside world he had no idea how much time could have passed, hours… or days? He tested his bindings, but they were just as secure as the first time and rattled  futilely . 

“Are you cold?” Niffty’s voice rang out somewhere behind him. If he thought about it, yes he was, but it was hardly the most pressing concern at the front of his mind. Alastor said nothing, Niffty continued as if he had answered.

“Well if that changes let me know. I’ve thought about this for a long while, our first time.” Small hands gripped at his shoulder blades, Alastor wanted to pull away, but couldn’t.

“I know it’s something I’ve been dreaming about for so long, and finally, right now it’s going to happen!” 

Again Alastor simply chose not to respond. 

_ Not that it matters. _

“I’m a little nervous, if I’m honest. I hope you’re not nervous too. I’ve heard it can lead to difficulties…”

Alastor could have laughed if he wasn’t so concerned for his current safety. Niffty was on the road for disappointment, Alastor’s libido was low as it stood normally, but being tied to a chair and stripped against his will meant that there could be no chance this would go Niffty’s way. Hell had a better chance of freezing over. He shut his eyes as he felt her lips dance across his bare back. 

“Luckily I thought about that, I want this to be perfect… IT NEEDS TO BE PERFECT.” She seemed positively deranged. Alastor wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse that he couldn’t see her behind him, but the noises of rustling around had him nervous. 

“If it’s perfect, then you’ll see how much better we are together! How it was meant to be!” He could hear how Niffty must have been bouncing up and down with excitement at the idea of it. 

Alastor felt something jab into him again. Exactly how many drugs was she pumping into him? Although this time the numbing darkness didn’t take over. Instead, it was a slow heat that seemed to spread down into his chest and then filter down his arms and legs.

“It’s to help you relax...” Her whispered words caused yet more alarm. 

_ This is going to get worse… _

Alastor was starting to feel light-headed as a strange type of pressure built just behind his temples.

“Only a few minutes more, I can’t wait! This is so exciting!” 

Alastor had started breathing heavily, his heart was starting to pound, and he was trying to calm down.

_ I need to be in control, I need to be in control.  _

Niffty leant in, and Alastor could feel her soft breath on his ear, she nibbled at his earlobe. 

_ Oh, no. _

It was the worst feeling, his body was betraying him. It didn’t matter that he could blame the cocktail of drugs flowing through his blood, all Alastor could think about was how he had completely lost control. 

A warm tingle spread from his ear down his neck and into his chest, he let out a gasp of surprise. He tried to turn to his head to look at Niffty, but she had already moved behind him again kissing his shoulders and running finger nails down his back. Something down below twinged.

“I… don’t… want… this.” It was still hard to try to form sentences, even if his body felt like it was on fire rather than asleep. Niffty seemed to pause.

“You don’t know what you want, I’ll show you.” 

When she came back into view around the front of the chained radio demon, she was wearing a loose bathrobe that wasn’t tied together, Alastor could see the bare skin underneath, he could see the smile playing its way across Niffty’s face, there was nothing he could do to stop what was about to happen. 

The robe fluttered to the floor as Niffty discarded it, she straddled Alastor lap like she had done early, although this time, it was two naked bodies pressed together, it was more intimate, more…

_ Revolting. _

He couldn’t take much more of this and shut his eyes as he felt two hands rest on both his shoulders. The feeling of her kisses on his bare chest, it was awful, but why was his body responding like this? Why was this happening? 

He couldn’t see, but he could still feel, he could still hear. Niffty’s ragged breath and her gasp of surprise as Alastor’s body responded against his will, getting excited. 

“Oh my... I didn’t think it would be so…” Niffty was whispering into his ear, Alastor’s skin crawled.

“... beautiful.” 

Finger tips caressed the tip and Alastor squirmed, and kept his eyes shut, he couldn’t look. He was helpless, but he could close his eyes, he didn’t want to see. His body was independent to his mind now. He had tried his best to retreat into his own head, but he was still all to painfully aware of what was going in.

He was swelling and gasped as Niffty had shifted back and something wet had clamped around him, bobbing slowly up and down. Alastor didn’t want to know what. He had always taken pride in being able to deal with a difficult situation. This was probably the closest he had come to tears in, well forever. 

His breathing was troubled and harsh, his head was pounding, and he hated the way his body was feeling. He could hear Niffty’s moaning away, he was trying to make it as distant as possible but the occasional noise would dart straight to him, and he would be brought back into the room with painful clarity. 

_ How long is this going to last? I want it to be over. _

No matter how much he willed it, he couldn’t make it finish any quicker. The motion stopped and pulled away, Niffty coughed and gasped for air. 

“A-Are you ready?”

Did it even matter if he was to say no? Alastor again didn’t answer, it didn’t surprise him that Niffty responded anyway.

“Good, I can’t wait any longer”

He felt Niffty slide herself forward, her hips lifted momentarily. He tried to be somewhere else, anywhere else thinking about anything apart from this horrible reality. 

_ Where would I have taken Angel for dinner? He probably would have had a pasta dish, he really did enj- _

Something warm and wet pushed its way over him and slid slowly down and it ruined his thought escape. Niffty was gasping hard, and her finger nails were clawing into Alastor’s bare chest. Eventually she had lowered herself all the way down, and she couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Hells, you’re really in me! This is amazing! Doesn’t it feel wonderful?” He gave no response but hated how he gasped when she started rocking her hips back and forward. Niffty’s laugh died quickly as her body moved, all she could do now was hold on and moan as she moved forward and back.

_ The sounds, the sensations… this is abhorrent.  _

The gasping was getting faster and soon Niffty was howling some incoherent yell that Alastor tried his best to ignore, she tensed up and something wet splatted against his thighs, he didn’t want to know… he didn’t want to know. 

“Oh! Goodness! Alastor, you’ve made me make such a mess!” The laughter came back, the horrible laughter.

There was a pause before the hips started rocking again, he grunted in uncomfortable arousal. 

He could smell it, it was revolting

He could hear it, it was disgusting

He could feel it, it was horrific

But he didn’t need to see it, she couldn’t force him to watch it. How many more times did she tense up on him? Alastor was trying his best not to keep count, it was bad enough that he could feel Niffty’s sweaty body pawing at him. It was a horrible relief when he finally started to feel himself building to climax.

_ It’ll be over soon. _

Niffty seemed to notice a change in Alastor too,

“I can feel you swelling up, oh Alastor! Will you do it? Will you do it for me?” She increased her tempo as she called out to him.

_ Like I have a choice. _

He held his breath, he didn't want to grunt or make any noise whatsoever, When it finally happened Niffty squealed with delight, a noise that Alastor did not appreciate having to listen to. It was finally over, Alastor felt dirty, tainted even, that he could have let this happen to himself he hadn’t realized until everything had gone still that he was trembling. Niffty hadn’t yet climbed off him she was still just gently rocking back and forth.

“You know if we were alive… This is how we’d start a family.” She touched her hand just above her pelvis and was musing to herself. Alastor was not comforted by these words, or by the deranged demon saying them. 

“Wouldn’t that have been wonderful?”

He didn’t respond.

“I know it would have been.” Niffty sounded almost wistful, she let out a small noise as she finally got off him, when she stepped off back onto the ground she let out a laugh.

“You’re already starting to leak out of me! What a mess Alastor, it's a good thing I love you so much, I better get everything cleaned up.”

She stepped past back behind Alastor, he finally opened his eyes and really wished he hadn’t, mixtures of fluids from Niffty and himself were smeared on him, his chest was covered in fingernail drag marks and love bites. He tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling, if he looked any more he might vomit. 

A tap turned on, Alastor heard scrubbing, the tap turned off. This repeated twice more before he heard Niffty coming back.

“I’m sorry, but I need to get back to work, Don’t worry my infernal prince, I’ll get you cleaned up and by the time you wake up. I’ll be back here with you… as if I never left.”

Alastor felt a kiss on the back of his neck before once again being jabbed with a needle. 

_ At least I don’t have to think about this. _

_ At… least… I… don’t… have… to… feel… powerless. _

_ Is… th… is… wh… at… I… did… to… Cha… rlie. _

Darkness.

  
  
  



	20. The Search Begins.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie starts searching for her missing Charlie.

Vaggie was exhausted, she could hardly move as she stumbled back into sight of the hotel. It was close to four in the morning. She had searched the Hotel top to bottom starting with Charlie’s old room, Charlie wasn’t anywhere, desperately she had asked Husk if Charlie had come this way. Her heart sank when he confirmed that she had, saying she was going out for some ‘fresh air’ hours ago. She shouted that if Charlie was seen at any point to call her immediately, no excuses! 

Vaggie had cursed her stupidity on why she had searched the hotel first rather than checking to see if she left, she was panicked and took to the streets, Vaggie had no idea where to start looking, so she started with locations they had spent together, there were no other ideas she had.

Her feet ached from the running, her voice was hoarse from shouting Charlie’s name and her eye was bloodshot and tired. She wanted to keep searching, for as long as it took for find Charlie, but Vaggie could hardly see straight. Approaching closer to the entrance of the hotel a taxi pulled up and out staggered a drunk Angel Dust, he pulled out some cash from his plumage and gave it over to the driver before blowing a kiss as the vehicle drove away. 

He stumbled around and as he noticed Vaggie approaching, his face fell. 

“Fuck…” He braced waiting for the barrage of shouting about being this wasted. It never came as Vaggie just pushed past him without saying a word and went inside, she didn’t even seem to acknowledge his existence. 

“That was fuckin’ weird.” Angel shrugged and was relieved from the reprieve he apparently earned, staggering in afterwards he made his way slowly back to his room. Putting the key in the lock was hard enough he had to try to use several arms to steady his hand to unlock the door. 

Staggering in he collapsed on the bed, he didn't bother getting undressed, something flashed across his drunken thoughts.

_It was always nicer sleepin’ next to Smiles._

If he hadn’t been so active he might have been tempted to knock off a quick one to the thoughts of his smiling demon, but he was a little too sore for that. He grinned stupidly to himself and quickly lost consciousness. 

***

Vaggie was lying face first down on the bed, willing herself to fall asleep. The quicker she could get some sleep the sooner she could continue searching for Charlie. The worry was setting in again, at least when she was running around her mind was occupied but in the quiet of their room, all she could do was think.

“Charlie… please don’t do something stupid… please be okay… just come back. FUCK!” She rolled over and pulled in a pillow and hugged it. Finally, the stress of the evening seemed to catch up, Vaggie quivered, before finally burying her face into the pillow and cried.

_Come back, please._

The thought that Charlie might not be coming back caused her to clutch tightly into the pillow and wail. Vaggie didn’t know the thought would hurt this much. Vaggie remembered how she had held Charlie’s broken and bleeding body after the incident with Alastor, but that wasn't the same, She was in shock that Charlie was gone and before it had chance to set in the blonde had was breathing again. 

This time it had time to trickle down, to set in. The thoughts of loss hurt Vaggie so bad she winced as if she had been punched over and over again in the chest. Something even worse crossed her mind.

_Is this how you felt when I told you I didn’t know if I still loved you? THIS MY FAULT._

She never really calmed down but eventually exhaustion took its toll, and she fell asleep. A horrible nightmare filled sleep, Vaggie was searching for Charlie but every step she took the corridors she was traversing was stretching out, Charlie’s sobs filled her head and Vaggie could do nothing but scream. 

***

Vaggie woke with a start, and sat bolt up, she felt just as tired as before she had slept and was covered in a cold sweat. Grabbing her phone she checked the time.

“Fuck! How is it this late?” It looked like she had slept through most of the morning, she got straight out of bed, still in her old clothes and slammed the door behind her as she ran back to the hotel entrance again. Who cared about her clothes or how messy she looked, the only thing that mattered right now was getting Charlie home safe. 

Almost bombarding Husk with questions left him annoyingly answering that he hadn’t seen Charlie and, yes he did remember to call when she does. With that settled she ran out the hotel and started looking again, She would show passers-by a photo of Charlie on her phone and ask if they’ve seen her. Most recognized the princess but it was worth it just in case, she was mostly met with abusive remarks about Charlie being insane for trying to get a redemption hotel in hell. Vaggie didn’t have the time to fight back and despite her urges to cave in a few heads she would just ignore them and move onto the next person she found. 

No one had seen her.

_How has no one seen her…_

She was taking a break sat down on a low wall. Collecting her breath and giving her legs a chance to rest. She wasn’t going to wait for too much longer before getting back to the search. She was flicking through the photos of Charlie on her phone. How many of these smiles were forced, how many of them hid sadness behind her eyes? 

Vaggie shook her head vigorously, she couldn’t think about that now, she needed to be calm and collected, for Charlie’s sake. Next stop was the palace, she didn’t expect her to be there and if she was she probably was just seeing her dad so it wouldn’t worry her, but Vaggie was desperate just to know where she was. 

She was never admitted past the outer gates, she had to shout up to on the of Gargoyles by the fine Iron wrought gates, it took a few minutes before it responded and confirmed that Princess Charlotte was not home. Vaggie sighed and left quickly. She resumed asking as many random souls as she could, even going so far as to enter the clubs and trying to shout over the noise of the music. 

_Why don’t you want me to find you Charlie?_

Only after leaving the last place, did she feel her phone ringing out in her pocket, she almost dropped it as she fumbled it out of her pocket. It was the hotels number. She pressed answer instantly and threw it up to her ear as she ran further away from the clubs doors, so she could hear properly.

“Hello! Charlie! Is Charlie back?” Husk’s gravely voice responded.

“Err, no. But apparently Alastor’s missing as well, Angel just asked about him, hasn’t seen him since yesterday… dunno if its related, but th-”

Vaggie hung up the phone, and shoved it back into her pocket, She couldn’t risk breaking this one, she might need it. Vaggie’s eye was narrowed and her breath was sharp. Grief, fear and worry were replaced with hate and rage, A white-hot burning hate. She had never been this angry before in her whole existence. Her spear was already in her hand, she didn’t feel it appear and her signature bow had elongated and sharpened, she was almost certain she could carve someone’s throat out with it if she headbutted them.

_Where have you taken her?, you fucker! You took her when she was vulnerable!_

She moved with a determined fury, she may not know where Charlie or Alastor was, but she knew where Angel was, Vaggie was going to get all the information she could out of that spider, and if he didn’t cooperate, she would make him.

***

Angel was sat down worried, Alastor had said they would spend some time together when Angel woke up from the night before, but he wasn’t in his room and no one else seemed to know where he was or had seen him since yesterday afternoon where he had declared he was going out for some food.

It wasn’t like Alastor to not keep his word, when he gave it he always followed through with it.

“Smiles... where are you?” There wasn’t a knock at the door, it just exploded and showered the room with shards of wood. Angel stood up with an alarmed look.

“The fuck?” He looked out towards his ruined door, Vaggie’s silhouette was standing by it, she was still furious, and she looked it.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?” 

“Fucking bitch, the hell you doin?” Angel was about to throw another insult as Vaggie stepped inside towards him but it died in his throat. He’d seen this look before, sure Vaggie was angry and easy to piss off but the worst it was going to get was a punch. This time she looked like she might kill him if he said the wrong thing.

This was the look Angel’s father gave him. He threw up his hands and backed himself into a corner trying to get as much distance as possible from Vaggie’s advancing footsteps.

“You talkin’ bout Alastor, right?” Angel was trying to be careful, Vaggie shouted back, the hand that wasn’t clutching her spear was clenched so hard it was turning her knuckles a vivid white. 

“WHO ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?”

“I dunno where he is! I’m lookin’ for him too…” Vaggie stopped moving and stared intently into Angel’s nervous face. She was scrutinizing his every movement trying to detect any trace of a lie. Angel coughed,

“Why you lookin’ for him?” He was scared for Alastor, if Vaggie was this riled up the radio demon would be in real trouble. Vaggie spat out a response that turned into hysterical shouting

“He’s taken Charlie! HE’S TAKEN HER! I’M GOING TO FUCKING **KILL HIM** ” Angel was taken aback, and had to think quick, he didn’t like being stuck in a room with an irrational angry spear wielding demon.

“Hey, let’s just cal-”

“Fucking tell me to calm down, see what fucking happens!” Angel closed his mouth and thought for a few awkward moments.

“I don’t think A-Alastor’s taken… her”

“What the fuck do you know about it? You weren’t there! YOU DIDN’T SEE WHAT HE DID TO CHARLIE!” 

“I, I know that, it’s just… I’ve been spending time with Alastor, and he never mentioned anything about Charlie or anything… I haven’t seen anything.”

“Because he LIES! He hides behind that fucking smile!” Angel forgot himself and got indignant. 

“He hasn’t lied to me!” Vaggie smirked.

“Where is he then? Tell me Angel, WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?” Angel could only shake his head

“I… don’t know.” 

“Then tell me something you do know, where did he hide out before? You know the place you didn’t tell me about?”

“O-Okay… I’ll tell you.”

With the location gained Vaggie basically sprinted out of the room without another glance towards Angel. He was shaking in place, that was terrifying, it was almost reflex, but he had hidden under his bed and covered two hands over his mouth, so he could silently cry… just like he used to do at home. 

“B-Be safe Smiles… for me.” He whispered out between his fingers, he screwed his eyes shut tight and was glad no one was around to see him. 

***

It was empty and covered with a fine layer of dust, no one had been here for months, it was empty.

They weren’t here.

Vaggie fell to her knees and let out a strangled yell, she banged her fist on the floor out of frustration again and again until she was left with a dull ache in her hand and the floor beneath her had cracked slightly. 

_Where are you?_


	21. Rainy Journal Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third entry of Charlie's journal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bonus chapter posted after chapter 20

*******

**I don’t know why I’m still writing in this thing, habit I guess… Or maybe I’m hoping you’ll find it eventually and maybe understand.**

**I still love you**

*******

**I had to leave, it hurt so much… but you’ll get better if I'm gone… you can forget about the broken girl you’re guiltily dragging around. You can be better now. You can finally say that you don’t love me any more.**

*******

**I almost couldn’t leave, even when I’m doing something for you, I’m still weak. I watched you sleep for far to long.**

**Do you know how beautiful you are? You were my flower, and I treasured every moment I could look at you.**

*******

**At first all I could do was cry, cry because you were gone, cry because I kept imagining a world where I was stronger, and we were still together. But I’m not strong, I’m weak. I can only imagine what happiness would be now.**

*******

**I’ve started cutting myself again, thought you should know… See? Looks like I can’t keep any promises to you that I make. Please see how worthless I am and just move on.**

**Please.**

*******

**I don’t know what I want to do now, well that’s not true… I know what I have to do, I just don’t have the courage yet… hopefully soon.**

*******

**I thought I heard you calling my name, I actually had to fight the urge to call back, how pathetic am I? Trying to get away from you and all it takes is your voice for me to come running along again. I cut my thigh open for that, as punishment or penance… whatever.**

*******

**Actually whilst I'm on the subject sorry about the stains, I don’t have a knife or anything with me, so I’m just using a piece of glass and it’s a bit uneven. It makes me miss my scissors, elegant and sharp.**

*******

**The empty feeling keeps on growing, I don’t think I can stop it. Maybe I don’t want to stop it.**

*******

**With no one else around, I’m sleeping a lot. It helps pass the day. It’s nice when the only thing I have to worry about is the nightmares.**

*******

**I left my phone behind, I’m assuming you found it, it was pretty obvious. If I still had it I would only end up calling you or answering the phone. Every night I miss you, every night I wish I was climbing into bed with you again.**

*******

**I’m such a coward, I’ve pressed the glass to my wrists so many times, If I could just push down hard enough this would be all over… Why can’t I do at least one thing right? Why do I have to be such a failure.**

*******

  
  
  
  
  



	22. Nothing Lasts Forever.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie starts to get desperate and Alastor's still a prisoner.

The first thing he did was gag, Alastor opened his eyes to find a large rubber tube shoved down his neck. He coughed, unable to move and unable to shift it. After a few moments it was being lifted up and out of his throat, he spluttered and coughed.

He was still naked but had a blanket draped across him, to protect his modesty? Doubtful, probably just to help him sleep more comfortably. 

“Sorry, but I thought that was the best way to feed you, to keep your strength up!” 

So Niffty was pipe feeding him, what a horrible thought. Oh, but it got worse.

“I made it just for you, you know… I even added some of me to it, you’ve got a little of me inside you right now! Isn’t that just wonderful!”

Now he wanted to be sick and his stomach turned, he fought that urge down. If he was sick now Alastor was sure he would just get fed again whilst he was conscious, perhaps it was better he didn’t know exactly what it was of Niffty that was in his stomach. 

“Today was a hard day, so many inconsiderate people at that hotel, especially now that you’re not there.”

She was running her hands over his shoulders again.

“You were always so kind to me, you always listened…” She leant in closer and Alastor could feel her warm breath on the hairs on the back of his neck, he shuddered uncomfortably. Niffty seemed to misinterpret, but that was hardly a surprise that this point.

“That’s when I started to love you, it hurt so much that I didn’t tell you sooner! How much happier would we both have been? You wouldn’t have had Angel staining you!... and I could have enjoyed you for so much longer…”

She gently kissed his neck and giggled.

“You know… it’s only fair, if you’ve got a little of me in you, you should put some of you in me.” She laughed again.

“Well its definitely not ‘little’.” 

_ Not again. _

“I get how you’re nervous, don’t worry I had a wonderful time last time, you don’t need to change a thing”

Niffty moved away and Alastor could do nothing but close his eyes again and try to steady his heart rate, a tear ran down his face, and he had to bite down hard on the inside of his cheek to stop any more.

The familiar injection, the burning sensation and Niffty speaking words that he no longer could hear.

_ I don’t know how long I can endure. _

***

No one seemed to care that Charlie was gone and it was driving Vaggie crazy, even Lucifer was being illusive and aloof about the whole situation. She hadn’t been able to talk to him but had left plenty of messages at the front gates. 

Vaggie was losing track of days, she would search throughout the city and sleep for a few hours before starting up again. She had put posters anywhere, asking for information. Even with a promise of a reward, in truth it was her sum total value. She would give everything she had if it meant Charlie would be safe.

This came with its own set of problems, her phone number was listed and the barrage of calls had come in, one hundred percent of them had so far been prank callers and hecklers. It didn’t matter to Vaggie she still answered every call at any time.

_ The next call will be the one _

She would repeat this to herself after each bad phone call. Some had even tried to negotiate the price asking for something else in return for Charlie’s whereabouts. She had started by flat out refusing these requests, but as the days and nights merged she started getting more desperate and thought that if it worked… surely it would be worth any price. 

Alastor hadn’t turned up either, compounding his guilt in Vaggie’s eyes. Angel was avoiding her like the plague, ever since their confrontation he had been withdrawn and had often spent quiet nights alone, hoping that Alastor would come back safe, and that Vaggie wouldn’t find him first. He hadn’t realized but Vaggie had followed Angel for a period of time, she had convinced herself that he knew more that he was letting on, but those fears had been washed away. Angel was innocent in all of this, so she had let him be. 

As time passed by the only solace Vaggie could gather was that a body hadn’t been found, Alastor hadn’t killed her yet… he was probably just taking his time, her anger had always been hard to manage but now she had taken to punching the walls in her room to calm down, She couldn’t take it out on anyone in case it harmed her chances of finding Charlie, so now small holes were scattered about, broken pieces of wall laying on the floor. 

It was strange that it had taken Niffty a couple of days before it had been cleaned, normally Niffty would clean the whole hotel daily. This didn’t matter to Vaggie, she was just glad when it did get cleaned. 

***

That quickly changed, by chance Vaggie was moving down the corridor at the same time Angel was leaving his room, he looked almost as bad as Vaggie did and shrunk back when he saw Vaggie moving past not want to start a confrontation. A sideways glance at Angel had Vaggie stare into his room, it was filthy, takeaway food boxes and bottles of booze were everywhere. The bed was stained and grubby. 

Vaggie paused and turned, Angel looked just about ready to slam the door shut, Vaggie took a deep breath, so she wouldn’t shout when she spoke, Angel winced like she had done, he must have been really hungover.

“Why is your room so filthy?” Angel shrugged and glanced behind him.

“Niffty doesn’t clean it.” Vaggie looked confused.

“What do you mean she doesn’t clean it, it’s her job!” 

“You’d think so, but ever since she acted really fuckin’ weird around me an-… and S-Smiles, she hasn’t come back.” He sniffed loudly, clearly upset. Vaggie froze up.

“Angel was that the day Alastor vanished?” Angel nodded, Vaggie didn’t ask any other follow-up questions and just ran off. Leaving Angel feeling confused, 

“But Niffty was just a bit of a clean freak… she couldn’t do anything to Smiles.” 

***

Vaggie knocked at the door and got no response, she waited a few more moments and knocked again. Niffty wasn't in, Vaggie got out the master key and unlocked the door before stepping inside.

It was as she imagined Niffty’s room would be, neat and immaculately clean, luckily it was a small room, Vaggie didn’t know how much time she could have. Quickly opening up the chest of drawers, she rifled through trying to be as neat as possible, nothing but clothes. She checked to see what was on her night stand. Nothing but a small book about connections of a spiritual level, a bit fluffy but not useful. Maybe Vaggie was just getting paranoid from the lack of sleep.

About ready to give up and leave Vaggie turned her head and glanced over to the bed again before getting on her knees, there was just a single box pushed all the way to the back. She grabbed it and pulled it towards her. Lifting the lid it contained a selection of candles and photo’s, the very top one was a torn up one of Alastor smiling away. It made Vaggie sick to see that fucker smiling. Placing it to one side, her eye widened, and she had to grab the stack of photos and quickly rummaged through the rest.

It was Alastor again, this time hardly smiling and most of them it looked like he wasn’t even awake. Each photo in order was becoming more revealing and intimate, until the last one was Niffty riding atop of Alastor grinning madly, looks like she had drawn on his bare chest just above a line of chains apparently tying him down.

***Alastor & Niffty forever!!!”**

“What the fuck…” Vaggie had to let out a long breath, she almost dropped them as she quickly put them back in order and back in the box, sliding it back into position. She got out that room quick, locked the door and left. 

She got to the hotel entrance and approached Husk.

“Has Niffty left?” She sounded a bit more forward than she would have liked, Husk seemed to bristle up. 

“It might be fucking vanish central in here but Niffty has been going out for lunch every day, don’t fucking worry, she’ll be back” He took another swig from a bottle. Vaggie wasn’t letting up.

**“** Wait, every day?” 

“Yeah, I guess, I’m not a fucking detective.” Husk grumbled in response. Vaggie nodded and left him to continue his day drinking.

She headed straight out, she was going to continue looking for Charlie, there was nothing she could do about Niffty right now, she didn’t want to confront her and didn’t know where she had gone, but tomorrow… tomorrow she would find out exactly where she has been scurrying off to. 

***

Vaggie was waiting, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible, it took a good twenty minutes of waiting before Niffty came skittering out with a large bag under her arm. Once she was out the door, Vaggie gave it a few moments before she followed. Getting out she looked around and spotted Niffty in the distance, 

_ Fuck, you move quick. _

Trying to half jog whilst trailing someone was unbelievable hard, Vaggie was on edge and kept diving in alleys and hiding behind corners of buildings, but Niffty’s pace was hard to match. Her lungs were burning by the time Niffty appeared to get to her destination, it looked like an abandoned warehouse of some description, from memory Vaggie recalled this used to be a drug factory but after a particularly hostile takeover both the equipment and the workers were destroyed, leaving one abandoned building. Niffty looped past the entrance and went around to a side door set into the floor.

_ The basement? _

Vaggie set up across the street in the opposite direction and out of sight as best she could, and waited. 

It was several hours later before Niffty emerged, now holding a bag that looked significantly more empty and also a big smile on her face and her cheeks were slightly red. She rushed off back in the direction of the hotel. 

_ Now or never.  _

Quickly glancing over, she confirmed that Niffty was now out of sight and headed towards the door. It was opened and descended into a dark basement, she could just about see the bottom of the staircase from here, she got to the bottom after having the door shut behind her and groped around for her phone, with a click her torch flickered on revealing the corridors ahead of her. 

The floor was dirty, but there was clearly small tracks going only in a single direction, Vaggie thought that was the best bet and followed them, twists and turns eventually led to a door with a light shining inside, opening the door she finally found Alastor. Looks like the radio demon had become a victim here.

He was facing away from her, head rolled over to one side and a blanket wrapped around him. Entering the room she passed a small sink and a table that horrified her, there were several syringes, a couple were still wet, clearly having just been washed. Along with several clear containers that held different sorts of liquid. She took a few steps closer.

“Alastor?” There was no response and finally getting round to face him she could see his eyes were half lidded, she reached out and poked him, he didn’t stir. She reached back and slapped him hard across the face, causing his head to roll to the other side. Still, no reaction, he was completely out of it. 

Vaggie started to tug away at the blanket and had to turn away quickly when she realized that he was completely naked. His entire body seemed to be covered in fingernail scratches and love bites and various things had been written on him, his arm still bandaged up and slightly red as Alastor was bleeding through it. This was far more than what the photo’s had shown. The chains, that bound in him in place were covered in blood, some very old, some quite fresh all scrawling strange looking runes and markings. 

Alastor clearly hadn’t taken Charlie, and now Vaggie felt terrible for Angel, he had been trying to find out about Alastor but Vaggie had completely drowned him out for her search. Once Charlie was safe Vaggie would apologize. Whilst not what she was after, Alastor could still help find Charlie, he was a proficient tracker and Vaggie had very few options left and as each day passed her worries grew worse. 

“Alastor, if you can hear me. I’m going to get you out.” He let out a murmur, was that just a noise or could he hear her, Vaggie didn’t know. She started feeling around the chains and at the back found a sturdy looking padlock near the base of the chair. She definitely didn’t have a key. Vaggie looked around again, before summoning her spear to her hand and striking down at it the lock with precision. The thing broke and collapsed on the floor, the chains already started to unravel slightly, as they loosened up they revealed raw marks on Alastor’s body where they have tying him in place. 

She went to start undoing them when she jumped, Alastor’s hand had come up out of chains and had placed it on her shoulder as she bent down, his eyes were open now, he looked like he was half aware of what was going on. 

“Leave… them.”

“Alastor, I… fucking goddammit, I need your help!” Alastor blinked at her slowly, did he even understand where he was right now?

“Alastor! Charlie’s gone! Look… I need to find her!” He blinked again, Vaggie let out an exclamation and tried to move the chains again.

“Stop... leave… them.” His feeble hand tried to push her away again.

“Alastor, Niffty’s going to come back, let’s get you out now!”

“I… know.” Vaggie understood now and didn’t blame Alastor, she would want the same thing.

“Okay, okay… but come find me okay? I know we can’t really trust each other, but can you promise me? Please… I’ve got nothing else.” Vaggie failed to hide her desperation. Alastor’s eyes were almost focusing in on her. He nodded.

She took her time, and put the chains roughly back and wrapped him in the blanket once more, she went to leave and took one last look at Alastor, it was a strange sensation going from hate to pity in an instant.

***

It was date night and Niffty was excited, she had only spent a few hours away, but she still pined for Alastor’s company. Getting into the room she put her bag down and looked over, Alastor’s head was up, clearly he was awake. 

“Good evening Alastor, How are you feeling tonight?”

“I’m well, thank you.” Niffty froze, her heart started pounding, Alastor hadn’t spoken to her properly in days, this was amazing.

_ Is he finally opening up? _

“Oh I’m so glad to hear it!” She hurried around and Alastor was staring at her.

"I love your eyes." She smiled up at him, Alastor smiled back, that smile was melting her and her lips quivered into a small smile. He opened his mouth and barely whispered.

“I love…” She was leaning in closer and closer.

“Y-Yes?”

“I love…” Barely inches from his face she was just waiting for him to say the magic word, and she was going to kiss his face off. His smile seemed to harden as her hand reached up to play with his hair.

It was shock, when Alastor’s hand pierced straight through the blanket he was wrapped in and grasped round Niffty’s tiny throat. He picked her easily off the ground as he finally was able to stand up. His legs felt weak, but he strained against them to get to his full height, his smile was stretched wide.

Niffty tried opening her mouth to say something but Alastor’s other clawed hand had already risen and plunged straight into chest, there was a small amount of resistance before something snapped and his hand slammed a few inches deeper. Her tiny frame seemed to twitch, Niffty blinked once as tears formed in the corners of her eye. 

Blood was splattering down as Alastor removed his hand, still holding her aloft. She raised trembling hands to clutch at the side of Alastor’s face, she was trying to feebly pull herself closer but Alastor had stretched his arm out, and she was loosing strength by the second.

“Pl-ea-se.” her whimper was barely audible, a thin trail of blood was leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Alastor paused for a moment and then relented.

_ Let her have her final words. _

As she was finally able to pull herself closer.

“Th-an-k…” To Alastor’s surprise she didn’t stop and pulled herself straight into a kiss, Alastor could taste the blood in his mouth as Niffty leant in. His grip released, and she fell and crumpled in a pile by his feet, landing in a pool of her own viscera.

Niffty’s vision was starting to blur, but she could see the dark red spatter all over her hands on the floor. She groaned and tried to stand, she slipped and fell forward with a wet smack. Shaking hands pressed down on the floor once more as she tried to stand again. Alastor was impressed with her determination but it hardly mattered she was loosing far too many vital fluids too quickly. 

First step, her leg wobbled. Second step, her knee buckled. Third step, she fell on all fours and crawled the rest of the way, a red trail leaking behind, Looking, she reached up and cried out at the pain as she pulled herself up to the sink. Leaning heavily into it, blood was spilling down and running crimson trails down the sink into the plug. She looked at her stained hands once more and had to try to blink the darkness away. She reached forward with a weak hand.

Tap turned on... soap... scrub... tap turned off... dry. Repeat. Tap... turned... on... soap... scrub... Tap... turned... off... dry...  **RE...PEAT** .  **T...a...p. T...u...r...n...e…d. O...n… S...o...a...p... S...c...r...u...b… T...a...p... T...u...r...n...e...d… O...f...f… D-**

She never finished her routine, going limp, she slid sideways and fell to the floor. She was still now and Alastor left her where she lay as he moved to gather his clothes and got ready to leave.

He owed Vaggie for saving him, and for once he really felt like honouring it. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	23. Death of a Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor enjoys his freedom, and gets to work for Vaggie.

Alastor staggered outside finally dressed again, his limbs ached fiercely and his clothes rubbed on all the scratches on his chest, it was uncomfortable. Despite being knocked out on and off for the last hell knows how many days he just wanted to rest. Not here though, he had to get away from this cursed place. He staggered on, Looking around he soon got his bearings and started heading towards the hotel. 

_ Vaggie freed me. _

Thoughts played across his mind, she had saved him, clearly Vaggie wanted him to find Charlie for her, so that’s why. Still, it felt like something else too, a strange act of kindness. Alastor was of course grateful, the thought of being stuck in that room again was almost too much to bear, it made his chest constrict.

His movements were becoming more fluid as time went on, his legs and arms stretched out and were working properly again. Apart from the pains on his chest, his body felt like it normally did, it was just his mind that was a mess.

It wasn’t quick, but he managed to get back to the hotel, it was an old and strangely welcoming sight. 

“Where the fuck have you been? Everything’s going to shit here.” Husk stared at him from the front desk as Alastor pushed open the doors and tried his best to stride confidently inside, he hated the idea of showing weakness and smiled widely at the frowning demon. 

“Ever the optimist eh, Husker? I believe I have a meeting with our dear grey tyrant, would you put a call through to her.”

“Don’t you have a phone?” Alastor shook his head.

“No, never needed one when I have friends who’ll happily put a call through for me.” Husker groaned and took a swig from his bottle before grabbing a phone, as he started speaking he was drowned from a shout from behind.

“ALASTOR!” Angel was running across the room and leaped into a hug from behind with four of his arms wrapping around the radio demon, almost toppling him over. He didn’t care if he was making a scene, he smiled as he buried his head into Alastor’s back. Alastor however had gone still momentarily, haunting memories of Niffty’s hands wrapped around him, stabbing a needle into his back… foreign hands, he wasn’t thinking and panic set in. He wrenched himself free and span around ready to strike out, teeth bared. Alastor froze as he saw Angel’s face turn from a smile to fear as he recoiled back, stumbling away from him.

“S-Smiles?” There was awkward silence filling the room, as Angel took a few more steps away. Alastor didn’t know what to do, but the thought of someone else touching him from behind right now drove his heart into meltdown. 

“I can’t… right now. I need space. Can I talk to you later?” Alastor spoke quietly whilst he tried to calm his heart down, Angel just held a couple of hands over his mouth and nodded silently before turning and leaving quickly, clearly upset. Alastor felt bad, that was a strange feeling… Feeling bad for someone, his mind flicked over to Charlie again.

_ I wonder what you’re feeling right now. _

“Err Alastor?” His head snapped round back to Husk who was just looking at him, phone receiver in his hand, even he looked awkward from that little radio demon outburst.

“Yes?” Alastor tried his best to compose himself as he turned back towards the desk. 

“So... she’s on her way back and will meet you at her room” Alastor nodded and was glad he could get out of this lobby, the air was still hanging heavily.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah… no problem...” Husk trailed off as Alastor left for the stairs, he sighed and grabbed the bottle next to him before taking another huge swig. This place was becoming a circus. 

***

Vaggie came hurrying round the corner and Alastor, now sobered from all the drugs had chance to look at her properly, she looked like a stressed mess, she neither smiled nor scowled at the sight of him but quickly got her key out and unlocked the door.

“Get in.” Still direct as usual Alastor followed her in silently and shut the door behind himself. Vaggie sat down on the large bed cupped hands to her head and let out a harsh sigh, as if her stresses were boiling over and escaping. Alastor spoke first.

“Can I say first, thank you for getting me out of that… place.” Vaggie didn’t look up.

“What do you know about Charlie’s problems?” Alastor smiled a little wider, there was nothing else that concerned Vaggie right now, the dedication was touching.

“About her self harm? Not a whole lot, either it was stress relief or for something more pleasurable. I never asked, she was only adamant that you didn’t find out.”

“... Fuck.” Vaggie had covered her whole face with her hands now. 

“Hoping I’d give you more insight? My apologies.” 

“Maybe, I shouldn’t have asked her to stop… maybe I should have tried understanding better… Do you think I made the wrong choice?” Vaggie had lifted her hands away and was staring at Alastor, she looked lost. 

“If you want my help to find Charlie, I need you to fill in some blanks.” Vaggie seemed to falter before finally nodding.

“O-Okay.” She took and breath in and placed her hands on her lap as she spoke out.

“After we moved back in together, I asked her to stop… the self harm. She agreed and I thought things were going well. I guess she was just clinging onto me, I dunno. That night you visited, when I finally spoke to her, she just completely flipped out.” Vaggie’s voice went very quiet.

“I handled it poorly… I think Charlie is hurting and has run away somewhere. I need to find her Alastor! I can’t let her be alone right now. She’s going to do something stupid I can feel it and I think it’s my fault! Please, help me.”

Vaggie’s tough exterior was cracking and Alastor could see the vulnerabilities poking through. He could use this to his advantage, it would be easy. But, something held him back from plotting, a wriggling thought that for once he should honour his agreement, he owed Vaggie a lot, and he could count the number of other demons that probably would have saved him on one hand. 

“Okay, I’ll find Charlie for you.” Vaggie let out a choked out sob and lunged at Alastor wrapping arms around his neck she cried with relief. 

“Thank you…” She whispered out, Alastor just stood still, unsure of what to do, so he just reached a hand up to pat her gingerly on the shoulder. Vaggie took a few deep breaths and pulled away.

“S-Sorry.” It was clear that she wasn’t coping and this must have been the first good news she had. 

“That’s alright, lets just not make a habit of it shall we?” Vaggie smiled weakly and punched Alastor solidly in the chest. It hurt more than he would ever admit. 

“Call me if you find anything okay?” Alastor shook his head getting a confused look from the emotional grey skinned sinner.

“I don’t have a phone.” Vaggie looked exasperated before snapping her fingers and rushing over to the desk she grabbed a phone from the drawer and pushed it towards him.

“Take this one… it’s Charlie’s so be careful with it. Okay?” Alastor nodded and placed the phone inside his jacket pocket. 

“I’ll be faster if I work alone.” 

“Okay, I’ll keep on searching too… please let me know.” Alastor rolled his eyes. 

“I know, I know, you said already.” With that he strode out the room and out of sight of Vaggie who after a few moments composing herself, she followed suit. 

***

He was almost excited there was a tingle in his fingers. How long had it been since he hunted someone? Sure it wasn’t for a satisfying kill at the end, but the hunt was almost as fun. Vaggie was standing at his side watching him, she had just left the hotel and was surprised he was still lurking by its entrance. 

Alastor’s grin split wide as he hunched over, his fingers seemed to be more like talons and the Antlers on his head twisted and grew. This was a sight Vaggie had seen only once before, animalistic and feral, when he was tearing into Charlie’s body so long ago. It was downright frightening.

He was gone in a flash, dipping in and out of shadow and reality like a monstrous dolphin cresting waves. Vaggie moved in a different direction and hoped and prayed that she hadn’t just made a huge mistake. 

Alastor remembered the smell of Charlie’s blood, the taste of it, feeling its hot wetness splash across his face, what an intimate memory. He just needed to catch a whiff, and he could track her down. Rooftop to Rooftop he slithered and leaped occasionally earning a scream from someone who had spotted him hunting.

He felt so alive, such a difference compared to being trapped alone in a room with nothing but a sexual abuser as company. He had forgotten part of himself in the last few months, being collared by Charlie and before that by her father. Alastor felt free and it felt great. His pupils constricted instantly as he caught a familiar scent, faint… but it was there, he jackknifed in mid-air as he halted on a roof top. 

Sniffing again he leapt forward.

_ Closer… Closer… Closer… HERE. _

He slipped straight into an open window slit and found himself in the attic space of an apartment block. The only thing in sight was a few broken mirrors and graffiti and discarded refuse, He trusted his nose and the scent was getting stronger. He stalked around before finding what he was after. A small light red book with a blank cover, next to it were stains of red, he reached down and touched a finger to them before bringing it to his tongue.

_ Not fresh but still wet, Charlie was here. _

He picked the book and thumbed through it, It seemed to be a log of Charlie’s thoughts, addressed mainly to Vaggie. It made for a bleak and depressing read. A few of the pages were even stained with drips of red. It ended abruptly and Alastor re-read the last page.

*******

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

**I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,**

*******

**I found my courage today, I’m ready now. You know what they say, when it’s your time, it's your time.**

**It’s my time… I’ve always wanted to see the city from up there.**

**Vaggie I’m sorry you had to put up with me for so long. I wish you all the happiness I can give and a little more too.**

**Eternally yours,**

**A broken girl.**

*******

“Hmm.” Alastor paused and closed the book, he had a good idea where Charlie was now, if he hurried he might get there in time, but something caused him to look back at the book and turn it over in his hands. Charlie mentioned Lucifer an awful lot, more than just a coincidence when she talked about her depression, Vaggie already knew, but did her father? Alastor certainly knew of some powers that creature had, he had seen them first hand, perhaps he could ‘help’ reign in his wayward daughter. 

_ Well if he even cared. _

Alastor could cover great distance pretty quick, but Vaggie could only move so fast, he reached into his pocket and got the phone out, the sickeningly sweet profile picture as he called up Vaggie made him feel like vomiting a little.

“A-Alastor?” She sounded out of breath, still probably running around.

“Clock tower, now.” He ended the call before she had chance to respond and put the phone back in his pocket, clutching the book he raced out the window turning to shadow a little slower than he would have liked, he smashed a large hole straight through it as he moved away. As the crow flies it wasn’t far, but Alastor raced as quickly as possible. Outside the gates of the infernal palace he did not dare trespass and with nothing else to lose he reached back and threw Charlie’s journal as hard as possible over the gate, he heard the crunch as it landed on the gravel on the other side of the gate.

_ If you really are lord and master of hell, I’m sure you’ll find it. _

Then Alastor fled.

***

You could see the giant clock tower from almost any point of the pentagram, the ominous countdown to the next purge just below the large dials. Alastor knew there was an entrance near the bottom, he’d seen imps go in and out of it before, maintaining the clock no doubt.

He wondered if there was roof access there, he had thought about simply scaling the roof as a shadow but since the last page of Charlie’s journal had painted a bleak image, he decided that he dare not risk surprising Charlie into doing something sudden. 

At the base of the tower he found the door and tried the handle, he had expected it to be locked but instead it swung open easily, quietly stepping inside, the grand clockwork mechanisms seemed to stretch from floor all the way to the top, It was ticking and clicking, gears whirling away. Alastor was grateful each of his footsteps was completely drowned out as he moved forwards. 

It didn’t take him long to find the staircase, spiral after spiral leading up. So far he hadn’t seen another soul in sight... or a body.

_ So far, so good.  _

He climbed higher and higher, loop after loop. Finally, standing on the inside of the mighty clock face he looked at the large bell, inscribed with all sorts of hellish scripture. Clearly of some importance, but he didn't have the time to start reading. Charlie was still nowhere in sight.

There was however a ladder for roof access. One foot after the other Alastor climbed until reaching the top of the large chamber he pushed on the hatch to find it was unlocked as well. He was careful now, the ticking and groaning of the great machine below had quietened. Although the wind was howling it wasn’t enough to drown out every sound he made. 

He quietly lifted himself up and left the Hatch open as he moved round the edge of the large spire. There was a small pathway that circled on the outside edge, with a low raised wall that formed up into spikes every few feet. 

_ There you are… _

Charlie was sat down on the edge of the tower, feet happily dangling off the side caught in the wind they swayed gently above the great abyss that constituted the fall below. She seemed to be completely lost in thought as she looked around the cityscape sprawled before her. Her hair was caught in the wind too and was billowing out, Charlie’s face looked resolute even if she had bags under her eyes, she looked exhausted. Not just physically, the light behind the eyes almost seemed hollow.

Her sleeve was rolled up past her elbow and a fresh cuts glistened in the light, up and down her forearm, a shard of glass rested next to her. Small amounts of blood had dripped down past her hand, it contrasted heavily with her pale skin. 

Alastor didn’t want to spook her now so made sure he was a respectable distance away before clearing his throat. He expected Charlie to jump or act in some way startled, she didn’t. Instead, she simply slowly turned her head and looked at him with those empty eyes and smiled. It was a hopeless smile.

“Hello Alastor, you found me then?” Her voice was barely able to carry itself above the sound of the wind.

“Yes my dear, your journal left a pretty strong clue on where you might be.” Alastor leant up against the spire, he felt they might be here a while.

“You found it then? Good. I hope Vaggie doesn’t hate it too much.” She sighed and looked back out towards the city.

“Does she know I’m here?” Alastor tilted his head, there something more than just curiosity in Charlie’s words. 

“No, She asked me to find you, but I haven’t told her you’re here yet.” The lie was easy enough, and it seemed to keep her calm.

“You wanted that privilege all to yourself?” Charlie put on another hollow smile.

“Something like that.” Charlie turned back to regard Alastor, she couldn’t quite place the mood he seemed to be in, it was almost sombre and it didn’t fit him.

“So… here to give me a push?” She let out a soft laugh but her eyes told Alastor that she was serious. 

“No, I’m not.” Charlie furrowed her brow at his response.

“Then why are you here?” Alastor seemed to fidget uncomfortably, a sight Charlie hadn’t seen before. The radio demon seemed to be pausing to choose his words carefully. 

“I was recently… forced into a situation, not of my choosing.” Alastor paused again and Charlie watched how he was playing around with his fingers.

“It… made me, uncomfortable to say the least… and it made me think about our interactions earlier…” Charlie’s eyes widened, was Alastor about to do what she thought he might do.

“So, whilst I realize that you experienced distress… I wasn’t aware of… the amount. I-” 

“Alastor, are you trying to apologize?” Alastor looked sheepish and nodded. Charlie laughed again and this time it seemed more genuine.

“Well, look at you. Considering others feelings, haha… I’m proud of you Alastor…” The blonde seemed to sober up a few moments later.

“You don’t think this is because of you, do you? Don’t flatter yourself too much, you might have treated me terribly, but its no more than I deserved… this was inside me far longer than you’ve been around.” She eyed up the ledge she was sat on and moved around a little. 

“Charlie.” Alastor started to straighten up and took a step towards her. Charlie quickly held up her hand.

“Don’t! Don’t come any closer.” Alastor paused and nodded and settled back down on the spire, the distance between them was great enough that he wouldn’t be able to get to her in time if she did jump, did she know that?

Something seemed to flash across Charlie’s face.

“Oh, before I forget, You don’t work for me any more, you’re fired… go murder to your hearts content… if it makes you happy, how can I judge? I couldn’t even make myself happy.”

Alastor could have just left at that point, what did it matter if she jumped now, but he didn’t, his feet stayed planted, and he didn’t know what to say. They just stood in silence, Charlie looking out towards the city, glanced in his direction now and then but still said nothing. 

The distant shout coming from somewhere inside the clock tower broke the silence.

“Charlie!” Vaggie’s calls made Charlie’s head snap round staring at the open hatch, then back to the ledge and finally looking at Alastor, worry and apprehension was plastered all over her face.

“You said you hadn’t told her!” Emotions broke over each word. 

“I didn’t, I assure you. She must have followed me.” Alastor was being tactful, although part of him was relieved, as much as he wanted to talk to Charlie privately about things, he didn’t know what to say or how to say it hopefully Vaggie would have a better job getting through to the girl on the ledge.

“Charlie! WAIT!” Vaggie’s shouts were getting louder, sounded like she was at the base of the ladder.

Charlie’s heart had started to race, she looked back over the ledge but something had started to gnaw away at her. The chance to see Vaggie one last time… It was a guilty pleasure, but tied with worry, if she saw Vaggie now, would she lose her courage? 

_ Be brave, be brave, be brave, be brave. _

Vaggie’s head appeared as she hauled herself up quickly spinning around, tears were streaming down her face and everything seemed to slow down. She must have seen Charlie from the street. A tiny blonde figure sat on the edge. 

Hand outstretched Vaggie had started to run to Charlie, she was screaming ‘no’ but it seemed lost in the wind as Charlie looked at her. The blonde still thought she was beautiful, but Charlie was done hurting Vaggie. No air passed her lips she just mouthed the words.

“I love you.” 

Such a tiny action, she shifted her palms down on the ledge and pushed away. Vaggie had passed by Alastor now, still running as fast as she could, she wasn’t breathing and her muscles were screaming for relief but that hardly mattered. Charlie was disappearing out of view, her eyes were closed, hair flowing upwards caught in the wind as her body plummeted downwards. 

Alastor knew what was about to happen he could see it, the edge was getting closer and Vaggie wasn’t slowing down. Charlie was already out of reach and out of sight. He moved without thinking, Vaggie had started her dive when Alastor impacted down into her back, forcing her straight down into the roof, she slid and slammed into the raised edge rather than diving off of it. 

Charlie held her arms out, it felt like she was flying and the rushing wind was almost like a comforting caress, even time seemed to be stretching out, she hadn’t felt this at peace in such a long time and a smile and crept its way across her face. The rushing got more intense for a brief instance, then she hit the ground. 

Vaggie let out an incoherent scream and tried to get up scrambling hard with hands and legs. Alastor had leant a knee down and was pinning her in place as she desperately tried to claw at the ledge to get closer. She turned her head to stare up at him, it wasn’t anger in her eye but pure grief. She went limp and screamed into the hard roof, Alastor refused to move and was going to wait for as long as he needed to. He still owed Vaggie a favour after all. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	24. Post Jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor starts adjusting to more responsibilities. Vaggie is doing as well as you can expect.

It was one of the most bizarre events that had ever happened. Every single news station reported it, Princess Charlotte was dead and gone after throwing herself off the clock tower. It was only the fact that she was royalty that it got so much attention, which led to the second strangeness of the whole thing. Not a single one of the news stories mocked her, well not out loud anyway. Behind closed doors it was different, the crazy princess had finally gone a step too far and everyone laughed.

Publicly there was nothing but forced pleasantries and false sympathy, everyone giving themselves a big pat on the back whilst seeming to send condolences to Lucifer in his apparent grief, not that anyone had seen him. For the people who actually knew Charlie all these falsehoods were just the final nail in the coffin for the Charlie versus hell situation. 

The hotel was still open for the time being, although its future was uncertain. Vaggie had taken to locking herself in her room permanently. Wracked with the guilt that she could have done something better, she wouldn’t eat and hardly slept. The worst part was that she hadn’t really grieved apart from the crying and screaming on the rooftop of the clock tower, after that she was in a state of perpetual shock, she barely spoke above a whisper and conversations seemed to simply wash over her.

The only visitor she ever entertained was Alastor, who after hours of arguing could get her to force a meal down. Alastor had in his mind a twisted sense of purpose that he, for all his faults would try to keep Vaggie going for as long as he could. He would tell himself that it was for Charlie’s memory, but secretly and selfishly he just enjoyed being around someone as they circled the drain heading towards oblivion. 

He still hadn’t reconciled with Angel, something seemed to always come up when he thought of knocking on his door. But with Vaggie’s situation being what it was, it took priority. Angel might currently be miserable and partying a little harder but from what Alastor could tell wasn't about to go diving off any buildings. He honestly couldn’t say the same for Vaggie, he thought that she wouldn’t entertain the idea but with how things were going, who knows?

It was several days later when the courier arrived, a smartly dressed imp presented a gilded card, It was addressed to Vagatha in beautiful flowing cursive. Since no one else could get to her it fell on Alastor’s shoulders to deliver the envelope and once again he found himself slipping under the locked door of Vaggie’s and what was once Charlie’s room.

Vaggie was again, lying curled up on her side staring at a wall, perfectly awake just watching the day go by. Alastor cleared his throat to announce his presence, she didn’t acknowledge him, but she hardly ever did. 

“A letter has arrived for you, would you like to have it?” Alastor asked knowing that he wouldn't get a response, still he had to follow a form of courteousness. Vaggie rolled over and was now just watching Alastor by the door. Her eye was open, but she hardly had any energy behind it. 

“Shall I read it aloud then?” Again nothing, but it wasn't a no. Alastor glided a finger across the envelopes folds cutting it open before pulling the golden and black embossed card out, he turned it over and read the contents aloud, he already knew who had written this, he recognized the handwriting.

**Dearest Vagatha**

**I write this to inform you that in two days at Six O’ clock the interment of Princess Charlotte's body will proceed at the palace.**

**There will be a small wake held for those who wish to celebrate her existence and her passions.**

**Whilst it pains me to admit, I am unsure who else Charlotte ever considered to be her friends. I leave that task to you, as someone who knew my daughter better than most, please pass the invitation to those who would appreciate a chance to say goodbye.**

**Please retain this as proof of entrance.**

*******

The scrawling signature at the bottom was none other than Lucifer’s and it was the first time Alastor had seen him write down his own name, normally he signs everything off with one of his forsaken apple motifs. Placing the card down by his side he was surprised that Vaggie was now sat up and looking straight at him.

“Will you come with me to it?” She spoke as quiet as ever. Alastor tilted his head.

“I’m not sure Lucifer would approve if I turned up…”

“I don’t care what he wants… I want you there.” Vaggie had got up and had grabbed hold of Alastor’s jacket arm.

“It says that it’s my choice… so I’m choosing you. Angel too, he always liked C-” Vaggie stopped herself, she hadn’t been able to say ‘Charlie’ out loud for a while now. 

“If you’re sure?” Vaggie nodded at the question and squeezed a little harder.

“I… can’t do this by myself.” She seemed so uncertain and nervous. Alastor smiled a little wider trying to reassure her. 

“I’ll be there to help then.”

“Thank you” Her whisper barely escaped as she let go of his arm. Alastor placed the card in his jacket pocket.

“It’ll give me a good chance to talk to Angel at least, I’ve been meaning to do that. Shall I go ahead and invite him?” 

“Yes… Could you also apologize to him, from me… I did some things… that… I’m, I’m not...”

She never finished her sentence, and turned and climbed under the covers in the bed pulling them up over her head. Alastor could see her shaking even through the covers and could hear the tiny gasping breaths. He moved over and placed a hand on her through the sheets. She seemed to stop.

“Of course I will. Try to rest, I’ll be back later with dinner that I want you to eat.” Vaggie didn’t make another sound, Alastor turned and left her to it, slipping back under the door he made his way for his next destination.

_This one could be awkward._

In the bed Vaggie had slid out her phone, the brightness of the screen made her wince, blinking a few times her eye adjusted. Like she had done so many times before she loaded up her camera roll and started flicking through her old pictures. It didn’t make her feel happy or sad, but she couldn’t stop going through them.

***

Alastor was ready for this he’d prepared and had a back up plan in case he ended up being unable to say what he needed. He felt that Angel needed to know what had happened, then why was he still nervous?

He knocked at Angel’s door, there was a few moments and it creaked open. Angel was much as Alastor had expected, he looked slightly deflated, but his eyes started to light up when he saw it was the radio demon, then his face faltered, clearly remembering their last horrible encounter down in the lobby, he looked nervously up at Alastor.

“H-Hi Smiles.”

“Hello Angel, may I come in?” Angel glanced behind him and then nodded, stepping backwards.

“Sure…”

Alastor moved into the room, it was fairly clean, there were only a few bottles of wines standing empty on a table, they must have been from the night before. With Niffty gone and Vaggie ‘absent’ Alastor, ever the practical demon had hired a new team of cleaning imps. It was a shame that a small team was required to have the same cleaning prowess as a single Niffty. But as long as they didn’t kidnap and molest anyone, Alastor didn’t care how many of them they were. 

It had also led to Alastor sweeping Niffty’s room and finding her box of torturous photo’s, rather than disposing of them he kept them for now, part of his plans with Angel at least.

Angel had started wringing his hands, did he always do that when he was nervous? It was a rather cute tell. Alastor moved to the bed, and sat down on it patting the space next to him, Angel shifted on the spot before moving and sitting down keeping a good 30 centimetres away.

_Treading on eggshells Angel?_

Alastor shuffled over to close the gap and reached a hand round and placing it on Angel’s waist pulled him the rest of the way so their shoulders were touching, it earned a gasp of surprise from the spider and Alastor always did enjoy how soft Angel was. The seconds were dragging on and Angel was staring at Alastor, the radio demon needed to start speaking soon, it was getting more and more awkward, but his chest seemed to be tightening and refusing to cooperate. 

Angel moved one of his hands down to Alastor’s fingers still placed on his waist and gave them a little squeeze. It seemed to snap Alastor out of whatever deep thoughts he was currently having. 

“I want to talk to you.” Alastor almost sounded uncertainly, Angel nodded and softly replied.

“Okay, take your time.” Alastor tried to smile, missed the mark and let out a laugh. 

“Haha” Alastor nervous noise betrayed his emotions.

_Hells why is this so difficult._

“I didn’t leave… I didn’t want… I was…” Angel could feel Alastor’s chest starting to tremble, he had never seen Alastor like this, he wasn’t even sure if Alastor was capable of showing this sort of weakness.

“Alastor?”

The radio demon tried to open his mouth, no noise came out, closed it again and just shook his head trying his best to smile. This wasn’t working, with his free hand he grabbed at the inside of his pocket and thrust the handful of photos into Angel’s lap, he closed his eyes and turned away. Alastor heard Angel pick them up and started going through them, then he heard the gasp and the photos scattered to the floor.

Before he knew what was happening 6 pairs of arms had wrapped themselves softly around Alastor pulling into a hug. Angel gently bumped Alastor’s head with his own, the radio demon opened an eye to look. Angel had tears running down his face and had such a tender look.

“Alastor… you don’t need to tell me anythin’ you’re not ready for. But I’ll always listen if you do.”

“Angel, why are you crying?” The spider let out a silly laugh.

“You haven’t got it yet? I care about you, you big idiot.” Alastor managed to flash a smile and hugged Angel back.

“Sorry for pushing you away.” he heard a sniff over his shoulder

“S’alright… I get it, you know… about that.” Alastor guessed at some point that Angel probably was a victim too, he didn’t want to ask just as he didn’t really want to talk about his experience. 

“Thank you, Angel.” He pulled away and got a small smile out of the spider before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss, it made the spiders cheeks flush, and he came straight back in for another embrace. It was nice being this close. 

Alastor ran a hand up and down Angel’s back getting a gentle hum of appreciation. Now onto slightly less uncomfortable news, only slightly.

“Vaggie has asked me to pass her apologies over her recent behaviour in the last week.” Angel was puzzled.

“Oh? Never thought she’d man up enough for that... err, how’s she doin’?”

“She’s handling it poorly…” Angel sighed sadly, Angel picked up on the mood. 

“Yeah… Charlie was… somethin’, but she was always nice to me ya know?”

“You’ve been invited to her funeral, if you wanted to say goodbye.” Angel looked sheepish.

“I dunno Smiles, I’m not really good with all that formal stuff.”

“I’ll be there at Vaggie’s request, it would make it easier if you could join me.”

“You’re going? You think that's gunna fly right with Apple Daddy?”

“I hope so.” Alastor was slightly nervous, but he rationalized that this time he had done nothing to warrant Lucifer’s ire. 

“Sure I’ll go with you, you can make sure I don’t drink too much.” Angel laughed softly and squeezed Alastor. 

“Would you like to spend the night at mine, Angel?” The spider’s eyes went wide.

“Y-You sure? I don’t want to rush anything.”

“You can say no, if you want.” Alastor was teasing.

“Don’t go puttin’ words in my mouth!” Angel grinned at him. “I’ll see you tonight then?” Alastor broke the hug and stood up.

“Yes, I’ve got some more errands to run, otherwise I’d stay longer.” Angel pushed Alastor playfully towards the door. 

“I get it, Mr Responsible, you go do your thing.”

***

“FOR **FUCK** SAKE!” Charlie was furious and shouting, she was standing in a familiar scene, a strange tableau of apple mosaics rested at her feet and pillars reached up into the swirling white fog above. 

She wasn’t going to play this stupid game of hide-and-seek again.

“Dad! Get out here, I'm not running around after you again! **I’m DONE!** ”

The scene seemed to swirl and change and the mist descended and enveloped Charlie, when it dispersed again she was in her fathers study. 

“Hello, daughter of mine.” Charlie spun round, Lucifer was leaning back in a chair, feet propped up on the desk in front of him. He was casually reading through a little red book with a blank cover.

“Don’t give me that shit, dad! I don’t want your self-righteous attitude right now.”

“Well then, what do you want?” He bent a corner of the page to keep track of his place and put it down on the desk. Charlie knew what he was doing, Lucifer wanted Charlie to cry out about ‘oh, how did you get my journal’ but she wasn’t falling for such obvious bait and ignored it. 

“I want to be fucking dead! But here we are again!” Lucifer took his feet off the desk and leant forward forming a pyramid with his fingers. 

“Last time I checked, you wanted to live?”

“Well I got that wrong! Just like everything else I’ve ever done. So come on! Just swallow me up make me move on or whatever the fuck it is…”

“No.”

“No? What the fuck do you mean no!? That was the deal last time! Move on or stay here and suffer, well I've done my suffering and now I want out!” 

“I don’t offer the same deal twice Charlotte.”

“ **FUCK YOU** , stop trying to control me. I should be able to choose how I want to end my own existence! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to come to terms that it would be better if I was gone?!”

  
  


“...”

“Fine! You know what, sure bring me back! I’ll just do it again, I’m getting used to pain Dad!” She lifted her sleeve to brandish the faint scars still visible on her arm.

“Maybe I’ll hang myself next time! Maybe I’ll try to overdose on as many drugs as I can fucking take, least that would be a party! Or **BETTER YET** , Why don’t I just get Alastor in on it again. How would you like that? That fucking monster intimately tearing your precious daughter apart! MAYBE HE’LL LET YOU WATCH IF YOU’RE SO INTERESTED IN BRINGING ME BACK **EVERY FUCKING TIME!** ”

“If you’re going to act like a child, I’ll treat you like one.”

“The fuck does that mean? I just want to have the choice! Why can’t you just give me the choice!”

“Because daughter, you haven’t learnt anything yet.”

“What is there for me to learn dad? That I’m a fucking joke? That I hurt people I love. That I’m Different from everybody I’ve ever met? That I just want the pain to go away… I just want to stop existing.”

“I’m not letting you move on, but I won’t bring you back, since you’re still not paying attention to what’s around you.”

“Oh great, so I’m your prisoner then? I thought you **loved** me dad, This doesn’t feel like love. Hey maybe I got that from you! Maybe I inherited your twisted heart!” She threw up her hands in frustration. 

“You know what, fine! Do whatever the fuck you feel like, I can’t stop you anyway.” Lucifer took a long time looking into his daughters enraged face before he shook his head and got up, he left through a set of double doors that appeared in the closest wall before shutting them just behind him, leaving Charlie alone. 

She clenched her fists and fell to her knees, eyes shut tight. The mist had begun to descend again, disolving the background leaving Charlie floating away in nothingness. 

_Why am I still here?_

***


	25. The Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time for Charlie's wake, Charlie will also be attending.

How long had it been? Charlie was still angry arms crossed floating around in nothing, She wasn’t getting hungry, thirsty or tired. Time seemed to just blend together and with nothing but white swirling mist, there was nothing to track.

Charlie had tried swimming around in the air, but she couldn't even tell if she was moving, so she gave up on that pretty quick and just went back to floating around.

“You’re a fucking asshole dad!” She hoped he could still hear her, although she never got any response. At one point she tried raking fingernails down her arm to see if it did anything. Not only did it not leave a single mark she couldn’t feel a thing. Charlie tried clamping both hands around her own throat, she didn't need to breathe and no matter how hard she squeezed she got no feeling from it.

Despondent she just drifted, wondering how long it would take before Lucifer would visit her again. 

“Maybe I’ll go crazy by then… Ignorance is bliss, right dad!?” Still, nothing.

“FUCK YOU!” 

Her constant stream of insults and expletives were beginning to wear thin, loneliness was setting in. 

“This is cruel, If you actually let me die properly I wouldn’t have to deal with this awful limbo.” 

“Do you hear me? What you’re doing to me is worse than death!” Still, no response. 

“ **FUCK YOU!** ”

She gave up and just went limp, she may not feel tiredness any more, but she still felt drained and closed her eyes. There was a rushing noise that made her snap back to attention, the fact something new was happening was the most interesting thing in the world. It looked like a spectrum of colours was being sprayed beneath her. 

Charlie felt her body being tugged at as she seemed to started to fall, the white mist was rushing upwards, and she seemed to be falling into colour. There was a rush, and she slammed into the ground, blinking a few times, her vision started to clear up as shapers started to come into focus. 

She was back in her old bedroom in the palace, the walls were still colourful, stuffed toys were in small piles in the corners, it reeked of cuteness… of ‘Charlieness’. She stood up, the landing wasn’t sore at all despite hitting the ground pretty damn hard. Her eyes were locked on the edge of the room.

Her bed was gone, in its stead was a solid block of white marble, and on top a glass coffin with golden framework. It was a strange sensation, staring at your own dead body but Charlie was dealing with that right now. She stumbled forward and pressed a hand against the glass case, it felt solid. This seemed real.

A noise got her attention as her bedroom door opened, Lucifer was walking side by side with his wife. Lucifer looked serious, he didn’t have his usual smile that usually was accompanied by his partner. Lilith looked sadly over the body lying in its glass container.

“M-Mom?” Charlie was surprised that her mother hadn’t seemingly paid her any attention, especially since she was standing next to her own body. She reached out a hand and it went straight through the elegant demon. Charlie retracted her hand and looked down at it. Her expression changed suddenly.

“Are you fucking kidding me dad?  **YOU’VE READ ME THIS STORY!** What, you think some sort of ghost of Christmas present type shit is going to change how I feel?”

Lilith had placing both hands down in the coffin now and had closed her eyes shut, but Charlie noticed how the corners of Lucifer’s mouth had twitched into the tiniest of smiles. 

“You fuck! You can still hear me can’t you?!” She marched up with him and tried to shove him but again she just passed straight through him. 

“It wasn’t dearest, truly don’t blame yourself.” Lucifer had spoken and Charlie had to spin around to realize that her mothers mouth was moving, she was speaking but Charlie couldn’t hear her. 

“Charlotte was always different…” Lucifer had moved through Charlie and placed arms around his wife. Lilith seemed to take great comfort and lowered her head to accept the kiss that Lucifer offered. She spoke again.

“I know, but if her soul was unwilling, if she truly wanted it then there was nothing we could have done.” 

A tear slid down her mothers face and Charlie felt her stomach turn, she had never seen her mother cry. More soundless words.

“She knew how you felt, you didn’t need to say it.” Lilith seemed to disagree and just shook her head. Lucifer looked up at her sadly and caught her chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“You were a wonderful mother.”

Charlie had to turn around, she felt like she was prying into a personal private moment, which in all honesty she was. She didn’t want to see her mother upset any more and just plugged her fingers into her ears so she didn’t have to listen to Lucifer’s responses as he consoled his wife. A few minutes later Charlie jumped as Lilith moved straight through her getting to do the door and leaving.

With the door shut Charlie slowly turned in place to stare daggers at her father who seemed to be wistfully musing as he stared at his daughters dead body. 

“What is this suppose to achieve dad?”

“Perspective.”

“What? You think if I watch a bunch of people mourn for me, I’m going to suddenly spring up and wish to live again?”

“No, I don’t think that, especially with the way you are right now.”

“You fu-, okay fine. Well tell me this, why can I only hear you?”

“You’re part of me daughter, we’re connected. You’ll find I’m the only one who can hear you or see you.”

“So am I able to haunt people then? Write stuff in mirrors, that sort of thing?”

“No, you can’t interact with the world around you.”

“Well how am I supposed to get out? Do I just have to wait for someone to open a door then?”

“I’m sure you’ll make do, unless you would prefer to go back?” Charlie scoffed at her fathers words.

“To that white nothingness? No thanks, I’ll just float around here instead, waiting for you to give me what I wanted from the beginning!”

“You should calm down, your friends will be here soon.”

“Asshole.” 

***

The journey in the back of the taxi was quiet as it rumbled along the streets and thoroughfares. Angel had elected to wear something a little less revealing, a dark dress suit that still showed off his curves but without the extra skin on show. Vaggie had worn a long black gown and was sat very still looking at the window her eyes were unmoving and unfocused she was just looking in that direction and taking nothing in. Alastor on the other hand was wearing the same suit as always, he had refused to get dressed up for this, he was sure Charlie didn’t really care what he was wearing at this point, not that he said that out loud, Vaggie was fragile enough. 

The vehicle stopped allowing the trio to get out, Alastor paid the creature driving, he basically snatched the money so as not to touch Alastor.

_ Good, still feared. _

They were left by the gates of the entrance to the palace, Angel looked around and seeing not a single soul in sight let out a whistle.

“So how the fuck do we get in?” Alastor looked towards Vaggie and handed her the invitation that he had kept safe.

“Present this to the gates.”

“Okay…” Vaggie had never visited the palace before but the whole place reeked of oppression even from outside the grounds. She held up the invitation and walked towards the gates, Angel clapped like a child when it burst into flames and the gates silently swung open.

“Nice trick, what else has Apples got up his sleeve?”

“I hope we never find out.” Vaggie was grim faced as she walked up past the open gates, she paused as the other two caught up.

“I… never visited here… with C-... her.” She looked up at the palace, Angel went to place a hand on her shoulder but paused and withdrew the hand.

“Don’t sweat it toots, don’t think I'm the sort that would get invited to this sort of place either!”

“I’ve been here before… once.” Alastor was stern faced when the others turned to look at him.

“Well Smiles, looks like you’re our guide! Lead on.” Angel grabbed his arm and looped his through it and squeezed, anything to try to lighten the mood.

“Ready?” Alastor turned to Vaggie.

“Let’s get this over with.” They walked on, Alastor leading the way with Angel hanging off his arm, Vaggie walked behind them eyes firmly on the ground, watching the gravel crunch underfoot, better to look down than to look up, she had already spotted a statue with Charlie as a child featured, she couldn’t risk looking again and seeing more. It was a slow walk, eventually they winded their way to the front steps and the door that lay beyond them. Alastor took in a deep breath as he made his way up, being here again was unnerving. He reached a hand and rang the bell by the door. It’s small chime seem to resonate up and outwards, getting louder and louder before finally the door opened. A smartly dressed imp had opened the door, it regarded each of them carefully before opening the door fully and bowing for them to enter.

The entrance hall was vast, no doubt intended to impress and intimidate all who would be invited inside. It certainly was working on Angel, he had to crane his neck up to see the ceiling, this was such a step up from the usual places he visited. Alastor was scanning around, eyes sweeping, it was strangely empty apart from the imp that had now closed the door behind them and seemed to disappear into a darkened corner. Vaggie’s eye had gone wide, dead ahead at the base of a grand twin staircase there was a portrait of the family, like the copy at the hotel foyer by at least three times the size. Charlie’s smiling face was staring at her, her heart spasmed and her breath came quick and fast.

The voice calling out snapped Vaggie out of her trance, all of them looked upwards at Lucifer himself at the top of the stairs and he started to descend them. His presence seemed to fill the room and his cane tapped against the stairs as he strolled down. His eyes were bright, and he wore a neutral expression that seemed to grow into a dangerous smile as he reached all of them.

“Thank you for being on time, this is a difficult time for all of us here, If you’d please all follow me, you can say your goodbye’s before we move onto the dinner.” He’s eyes moved over all of them but seemed to linger on Vaggie, who met his gaze, there were so many similarities of his face with Charlie’s. 

He stretched out his free hand to offer it to the grey soul, she seemed uncertain but took it as he turned to lead them back up the stairs. Lucifer leant in and spoke to Vaggie quietly enough so only she could hear him. 

Alastor’s eyes narrowed as he followed behind, linking arms with Angel. Everything here was suspicious. 

_ What are you up to? _

“I know how difficult this must be for you, you have my sympathies” Lucifer’s words confused Vaggie, she glanced a look at him as they walked down a corridor at the top of the stairs, the doors seemingly opening themselves. He seemed to be looking sympathetically concerned at her. Lucifer was Charlie’s father shouldn’t this be difficult for him too?

“It’s been...hard.” Vaggie replied, he squeezed her hand and his quiet words continued. 

“Of course it has, but you’ll get nowhere if you blame yourself.” Vaggie stomach turned, did Lucifer blame her? Just like she  **did** blame herself.

“... What?”

“I understand what it must be like, knowing that if you were a little faster you might have got to my daughter in time.”

“I-I…” 

“Don’t concern yourself with such thoughts, my daughter would have just found a different method. Nothing you could have done would have changed anything.” Was he trying to be comforting or making Vaggie feel worse, he seemed to be quite efficiently doing both. 

Lucifer gave her another softer smile and squeezed her hand again, he didn’t say anything else and Vaggie was grateful for the quiet. A few minutes of sombre silence passed until Lucifer stood before a door that had remained shut, he let go of Vaggie and turned to all three of them.

“My wife and I have already done our farewells, this moment is just for you, when you’re ready a servant will guide you to the dining hall.” He opened the door and stood to one side allowing all of them pass by him before shutting it quickly. Alone he gave his cane a quick spin in his hand before heading to join his mourning wife, a small compliment of imps had appeared in the corridor, they knew their duty and would wait. 

Seeing the full contents of Charlie’s bedroom was too much for Vaggie who shrunk back and pressed herself against the door and shut her eye. 

“I’m not ready…” Alastor placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Take you’re time my dear.” With a movement of his head he indicated that Angel should go first, the air was heavy, It made Angel uncomfortable as he moved forward before standing just in front of the glass coffin. He fidgeted in place, he never knew what to say at these sorts of times.

“Err, hey toots… Sorry that you… well y’know. You were always nice to me, think I’m going to miss that most.” He glanced around, Alastor was paying attention to Vaggie, he leant in closer and spoke quieter. 

“Actually I’m going to miss your singin’ but don’t tell anyone kay?” He straightened up and sniffed, he almost started tearing up, so he moved back quickly. Angel gave Alastor a nudge.

“Your turn Smiles, Hey Vaggie, you doin’ okay?” He gently tried to playful nudge his hip into Vaggie, she just shook her head tightly and was starting to shake. Angel took a couple of pairs of arms and wrapped them around her and started muttering to her quietly as Alastor turned to face Charlie. As he stepped forward something caused him to freeze, his head snapped to an empty section of the room, and he sniffed the air. They were alone here but something was wrong… something was causing the hairs on his neck to prickle. He took a few moments to study the room again, and the feeling seemed to pass. 

He had nothing to say to Charlie, well nothing that he would be so foolish to utter in Lucifer’s domain. Instead, he placed a few fingers across the golden edging and hummed slightly. The only thing Alastor noticed is that they had done a wonderful job of putting Charlie back together, although he never saw what she was like after the impact, still some skill had clearly gone into her presentation. It looked like she was simply sleeping, with a last look he moved back. 

Vaggie still hadn’t opened her eye, but she knew it was just her now, she felt Alastor’s hand on her, and he spoke gently.

“It’s time.” 

She let out a long breath to try to steady her heart, it didn’t work, but she managed to work up the courage to open her eye. 

_ Oh, god… _

This room, it felt like it was an extension of Charlie, the colours, the toys… the stupidly drawn pictures hanging off the walls. It was so different compared to the rest of the palace. Charlie’s sanctuary against the rest of hell, it seemed isolated.

_ Just like you. _

She was next to Charlie’s still body now, she didn’t want to, but she had to, she focused on the blonde resting so peacefully. Vaggie just wanted her to be sleeping, and any moment to just wake up. But she wasn’t going to, Charlie was gone. Vaggie could feel the bubble swelling inside her as she placed a hand on the side of the glass, her fingers gripping tightly she leant over so she was almost above Charlie’s peacefully resting face. Throat constricting as her breathing came in and out unsteady she spoke barely above a whisper.

“Charlie, I’m here Charlie… It hurts, it hurts so much. I’m so s-sorry I c-couldn’t h-help you… I… I…” There was a noise as the first teardrop splashed onto the glass. Vaggie’s hands were shaking and her vision was blurry, the bubble had burst and the dam stopping her grief had broken.

“I l-love you… and I don’t k-know what I’m going to do n-now…” 

She straightened up as her legs gave way, and she fell to the floor sobs sounding out loudly as she wailed. 

Alastor looked over to her and Angel looked uncomfortable, something flashed across the radio demons mind as he thought back to Charlie, he moved over to one of her windows and looked out towards the gardens. He could see the orchard from here and shuddered.

_ Not there… where is it? _

Looking around he finally spotted what he was after, and he pulled open the window, a breeze flew in and with it came the smell of apples. Alastor turned back to Angel and bent to whisper into his ear.

“I need to take care of something, me and Vaggie will meet you at the dinner, okay?” Angel looked straight at Alastor clearly put off.

“I trust you Smiles, but please don’t leave me alone for too long. This is fuckin’ awkward…” Alastor smiled and nodded, he moved over to Vaggie, who was still crying loudly by the base of the marble block.

“Charlie had something she wanted to show you, this might be our only time… Can you stand?”

Vaggie didn’t answer but shook her head as her whole body seemed to convulse. It was a surprise to everyone else in the room when Alastor bent down and just picked up Vaggie, she offered no resistance and wept into his jacket, her eye shut again. He moved to the window and in one fluid movement just stepped straight out of it and dropped towards the ground. 

This required finer control but Alastor managed to shift his lower half into a coiling shadowy mass that absorbed the impact of the ground, before rising to his full height he moved quickly towards his destination, Angel had rushed over to the window and gasped at how Alastor had just leapt out of a very tall window as if it was nothing. 

“There nothing you can’t do Smiles?” Angel stood up straight and brushed himself off before opening the door an imp was waiting on the other side, 

“Dinner?” It enquired.

“Yeah I guess so,” Angel thought it was a bit weird how the imp didn’t ask about the others as if it already knew, it turned and led Angel away. Something else decided to fall out the window too. 

Vaggie didn’t know what Alastor was planning not that it mattered, she was still crying as her grief was overtaking her. All of a sudden she was placed on the soft grass and Alastor was pulling away.

“Charlie wanted to take you here, so I thought you should see it.” Alastor had taken a seat on the ground next to her, Vaggie opened her eye and was taken aback. As far as the eye could see were flowerbeds connected by angelic grass, colourful petals gently moving in an ethereal breeze. Her crying seemed to stop as she gazed around.

“It’s... beautiful.” Vaggie had whispered out.

“Something this beautifully pure surviving in hell, who would have thought?” Alastor mused out loud. 

“I, never thought I’d see something like this again…” Vaggie was trying to take in all the colour combinations, trying to identify all the different types of flowers, she only recognized a handful the rest seemed to have been created just to exist here in natural beauty. She turned her tear stained face towards Alastor, who noticing she was staring up at him met her gaze.

“T-Thank you… for showing me this. It’s like a little piece of Charlie’s still alive here…” Alastor didn’t need to say anything.

“Can we stay here for a while?” Alastor nodded in response.

“For as long as you like.”

_ Sorry Angel. _

***

The dining hall was grand, and the tiniest noise seemed to echo, it would have been fine if a band was playing some music but instead it was such an intensely awkward silence. Lucifer, Lilith and… Angel Dust. 

“So… err, sweet place… bet it’s hell to clean…”

_ Fuck me… you owe me so much Smiles. _


	26. I'm BACK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor Takes Vaggie back from the wake and tries something old and something new.

It was strange, Charlie was sat down on the grass less than twenty centimetres from Vaggie, even though Vaggie was staring straight at her, Charlie knew she was looking through her. They were still in the garden and Vaggie was crying, tears running down her cheeks. Alastor was silent and leaving her to grieve in peace, sat next to her.

Charlie knew what she said to her dad and had meant it, but she still felt bad for Vaggie and had reached out to cradle her crying face, knowing that her touch would go right through her. She still held her hand there, she still felt tears down her own face as Vaggie mourned.

“I know it hurts now Vaggie, but you’re stronger than me and you’ll move on... I promise.”

She wasn’t sure how long time had passed but eventually Vaggie wiped her eye and turned to Alastor and said something, he nodded and stood up offering her his hand. They took one last look around the flower garden before turning to leave. Charlie took a few moments and then followed behind them, well she didn't have anywhere else to go.

They didn’t re-enter the palace, not that Charlie wanted to go back inside. It must have been something Vaggie had said. Instead, they left the grounds completely and were soon out of the gate, Vaggie had taken her phone out and was making a call. They were still for a long while, Charlie was watching Alastor during this time, his face hardly ever changed, but occasionally she thought that perhaps his eyes shifted towards her direction but only for the briefest of moments, as if he was trying to convince himself that something was indeed standing there. 

When the taxi appeared Charlie had to throw herself inside realizing that if the car door shut she wouldn't be getting in, she half dived through Vaggie as she went in first and scrambled inside and sat down in an empty seat when it moved off. They were speaking again talking about something, Vaggie was looking tender and Alastor was looking out a window as he responded. Charlie could hear the car engine, she could hear the music on the radio… she just couldn’t hear voices of other souls, it was strange.

They arrived at the hotel and Charlie was ready this time and moved quick and got out as soon as Alastor had opened the door. 

“That’s going to get annoying.” 

With nowhere else to go she decided to follow Vaggie, just for a strange sense of familiarity whilst she figured out how to get out of this disgusting limbo and into the void beyond. Alastor seemed to bid Vaggie farewell as he left to go into a different direction, Charlie had to dash as she slid into the elevator just as the door shut. Alone Vaggie raised her hands to cup her face, hiding it from view and her shoulders were shaking.

“Are you crying Vaggie?” 

The tiny box rumbled to a stop and Vaggie seemed to wipe her eyes and lowered her hands as she composed herself just as the door started to open. Charlie was only a few paces behind her as she moved towards their room... well just her room now. Key in the lock Charlie had to pick up the pace for fear of being locked out. She almost back peddled when Vaggie turned around to lock the door and went straight through Charlie’s startled face.

“Fuck! Need to get used to that.”

Vaggie reached up and undid her bow that was in her hair and let it flutter to the ground, she reached round her back and lowered the zip before slipping out the black dress, she half-heartedly kicked it to one side as she flopped down onto the bed in just her underwear now. She wasn’t really moving and Charlie didn’t know what to do now, she tried the bathroom door that was shut, it might as well have been painted on, she couldn't move the handle of the door not matter how much she tried, the same again for the windows that couldn’t be opened.

“Worth a try.”

Charlie perched down on the end of the bed and was just watching the back of Vaggie’s head who was still faced down on the bed arms by her side. Maybe ten minutes later Vaggie moved slightly and shifted back to her discarded dress she rummaged through it and picked out her phone. Lying back down on the bed she slid under the covers and propped herself up with a couple of pillows by the head board. Charlie climbed up to lie next to her in the empty space. Vaggie had loaded up the camera roll on her phone,

“Oh Vaggie…” 

Vaggie had clamped a hand over her mouth as her face screwed up with sorrow, tears flowed down her face as she scrolled through the photo’s with her free hand. It was a few hours before Vaggie had finally cried herself out and was lying on her side, sleeping. It didn’t look like a restful sleep. Charlie missed sleeping, instead she just curled up and tried to wrap herself around Vaggie and just watched her breathing, it was going to be a long night.

***

There was a rapid knock on his door, Alastor moved towards it and opened it, he was almost sure… oh, and he was right. Angel was standing on the other side, and he looked grumpy as all hell.

“Smiles, do you have any idea what you just put me through?”

“Sorry Angel, please come in.” He stood to one side but Angel didn’t move, Alastor sighed and turned back to him.

“Vaggie needed to come back here, So I need to make sure she got out.” Was that a flash of jealousy across Angels face?

“What about me? What about making sure I got out? You got any idea how fuckin’ awkward that meal was? I had no idea what to tell them! What do you think a porn star and Lucifer has in common!? Not a whole lot! I was stuck makin’ this shitty small talk and when I mention that I should probably go look for you, Apples just turns to me and says you’ve already left! The fuck!” 

There was a guilty flash in Alastor’s chest, he did say he would come back for him, he reached out and tried to touch Angel shoulder, he huffed and moved out the way turning his head to one side looking away from Alastor. 

“What can I do to make it up to you Angel?” The spider paused before turned his head back.

“To start with you can invite me inside…” Alastor stared at him with a deadpan expression.

“I already did…” Angel went very red in the cheeks as if he had just forgotten how Alastor had started the conversation. 

“Shut up Smiles, do it again then!” Alastor rolled his eyes.

“Fine, Angel? Would you like to come in?”

“... Better.” Angel still huffing moved inside allow Alastor to close the door. 

“What else Angel?” Angel played around with his hands as he moved into the room.

“I guess for seconds you could… hold me and say you’re sorry… and mean it!” Angel was clearly keeping his back facing towards Alastor.

_ Not a subtle one, are you? _

Alastor moved and wrapped his arms around Angels middle and give him a gentle squeeze.

“Angel, I’m sorry for not keeping my word. And of course I mean it.” Angel grumbled again but his expression seemed to soften.

“Okay, but you still owe me… I just haven’t thought of something suitable yet!” Alastor started to let go.

“Let me know when you do.” Angel reached down and held Alastor’s arms. 

“So, Smiles? You’ve met Apples before, has he always been like that?” Alastor took a few moments to think back on Lucifer’s interactions today and the few previous times he met him.

“I don’t think so. I think he’s just showing us what he wants us to see, I doubt anyone here has ever seen the real Lucifer.”

“Bit of an actor then?” Angel broke away from the embrace turned around to look back at Alastor, the radio demon had gone unusually quiet and was not really focused.

“Err, Smiles? You alright?” Alastor seemed to come back to attention and looked seriously at Angel for a moment. 

“Can I talk to you about something?” Angel gulped and for some reason had a feeling of unease, he started playing around with his hands again.

“Sure… what’s on your mind?”

“Niffty, among other things.” Angel heart sank, this was going to be tense, but he wanted to be here with Alastor and help him if he could, even if it was just a listening body. 

“I said I’d be ready to listen, you wanna get more comfortable?” Angel indicated towards the bed, Alastor nodded and sat down on it, Angel lay down and curled up next to him, eyes watching up. He thought it best to give him a bit of space so refrained from cuddling round him. 

“Do you trust me Angel?” He was so nonchalant with his question, it was surprising but didn’t stop Angel from answering quickly. 

“Of course I do…” Alastor seemed to snap

“You’re not stupid… you know who I am? So why trust me of all people.” 

“... You haven’t hurt me, or taken advantage of me when you could have done.”

“What if I’m lying to you Angel, what if its just a big deception?”

“Guess I’d have no way of knowin’ then, would I? What are you sayin’ Smiles, are you?” Alastor shook his head.

“No, but does that really matter what I’m doing?” Angel poked him with a finger, right in the side causing Alastor to blink and look down at him.

“Yeah it matters, you could do... not like I could stop you! I’ve seen what you do, but you’re just being nice to me and I kinda want to just be nice back. Shouldn’t that be what matters?”

“Niffty seemed harmless, seemed nice... she surprised me, after that how many others have I overlooked that could do the same…”

“You sayin’ you don’t trust me?”

“I don’t think I trust anyone, and I think its foolish if you do.” 

“... Alastor…” Angel couldn’t take it any more and sat up and shuffled up behind the radio demon, he placed his head on his shoulder and wrapped as many arms as he could around his torso. Alastor tensed up but didn’t go to remove Angel, he spoke again and this time his mask of indifference seemed to falter and when he spoke it was clear Alastor was nervous.

“I don’t feel like I used to, everything is so uncertain, I feel like someone is just waiting to stab me in the back, to replace me… I-I’m worried.” 

Angel gently squeezed again.

“Look where I am Smiles, anyone wants to stab you in the back they gotta go through me first.” He turned his head and placed a quick kiss on the serious face of the radio demon. 

“Angel… I think I know what I need to do, to help me get move past this.” His face seemed to darken, but Angel just squeezed again.

“Can I help?”

“... No. I need to go now, thanks for listening.” Alastor went to get up but Angel gripped him tightly.

“Can you promise me something Alastor?” Angel was uncharacteristically serious

“What?”

“Promise you’ll come see when you’ve done whatever it is you need to do? No matter what time, I won’t mind.”

“... I’ll try.”

“Thanks.” Angel finally let go and allowed Alastor to stand, he started getting off the bed too, He was ushered out by Alastor who locked the door, he didn’t offer a hug goodbye and had quickly left, leaving Angel with a worried feeling in his stomach.

_ Come back soon Smiles _

***

It had been too long, standing high upon the tip of the grand Clock tower, Alastor found it fitting that the end of one thing should be the beginning of another. He closed his eyes and outstretched his hand and started to concentrate on his own power.

_ It’s been a while.  _

The air began to distort and warp as flashing red runes began to materialize in and out of existence around him. He could feel his connection to hell around him begin to swell and grow, like a vast living creature its’ deep breaths began to overlap the closest buildings spreading ever outwards. Anyone looking up from the ground would see a tiny pinprick of flashing red light forming at the top of tall spire… A dark storm was brewing. 

In unison there was a static scream blasting out across the whole of the city, every radio, phone, television, even sound systems in clubs seemed to electronically convulse and start spitting out a whining screech. How many eyes were now staring, how many ears were listening? How many hearts had halted momentarily as the terror spread. 

Alastor was connected now, his shoulders hunched, antlers twisted and his sharp teeth bared he let out a hard and loud laugh and every single radio laughed with him. He dove straight off the roof as a creature of nightmare and shadow… it wasn’t long before the first blood-curdling scream sounded out on the sound systems across the city that night and it wasn’t the last.

It was a long night and bloody night. 

The radio demon was back.

***

It was the early hours of the morning when he returned to the hotel. There was not a soul in sight, probably for the best as Alastor couldn't guarantee anyone’s safety right now, his mind was alight with the delights of the evening, he was still animalistically hunched over, claws still dripping with blood, the stench hung heavy in the air and his clothes were splatted with the arterial spray of the night and his heart banged a manic beat inside his ribcage. 

He had made a promise to Angel, and this time planned to keep it, despite his appearance he made his way down the familiar corridor until he was outside Angel dusts room, he slipped inside from under the bottom of the door. It was dark, but he could just about make out Angels sleeping form. Alastor quickly discarded his wet clothes and even went so far as to try to dry his hands off the back of his Jacket, the only clean place on his clothes that existed, he was facing all of his victims so the back of his clothes had remained clean.

He could still smell the blood but at least he wasn’t dripping wet with it any more, of course the scent of it was still driving Alastor’s mind mad, he didn’t know if he wanted to wake Angel or hunt him.

_ Why not both? _

He made his way closer, eyes glinting in the darkness. Stopping just at the edge of the bed he reached down before pulling the covers down revealing Angels naked form in the darkness, the spider grumbled as he was suddenly made a lot colder and cracked open a bleary eye and looked up.

“Smi-” He didn't get to finish his sentence, Alastor had pounced and captured his mouth in a fiercely passionate kiss, it was as surprising as it was unexpected, Angel barely had time to gasp for air before Alastor had descended on him again. Alastor’s hands had pinned Angels hips in place, the spider reached up to try to get Alastor’s clothes off and gasped in surprise when he realized he wasn’t wearing any. 

“F-Fuckin’ hells!” He managed to get a word out when Alastor lifted his head for air, the radio demon had straddled over the top of Angel and enjoyed holding him down like this, the spider was squirming with delight as Alastor’s fingers dug in slightly to keep him clamped down. Surely he could smell the blood in the air, surely he had heard the radio broadcasts earlier. Angel was either playing ignorant or didn’t care, either way it was exciting Alastor and for the first time in a very long time he wanted to share something intimate with Angel. 

Did he have to engage in a bloodbath every time he wanted to have a date night? The thought almost made him laugh. 

Angel’s hands clawed their way across Alastor’s chest as he tried to buck his hips, the intensity of Alastor’s passionate assault had already got Angel rock hard, he was getting about ready to take care of himself but one of Alastor’s hands had let go of Angel and was firmly grabbing around Angels wrists as it moved over the radio demons stomach, Angel started to retract his hand instinctively, Alastor probably didn’t want to be touched any more, he was used to that. But when Alastor glided his hand further down his stomach and towards his crotch, Angel almost lost his proverbial shit. 

“...S-Smiles?” Angel was panting hard, and he reached two of his other hands up to grip around the waistline of the very hot radio demon above him, he slipped a couple of fingers underneath the material of his underwear and waited for a moment, Alastor wasn’t pulling away, in fact he wasn't saying much of anything but had descended again and was biting at Angel’s neck, he could hear his breathing, like a god-damned wild animal, it was heaving in his chest, the hot breath tingled as it blew past Angel’s neck. 

Angel pulled the underwear down and the apprehension almost killed him as he gently reached out to touch Alastor, gentle fingers wrapped their way around him, Alastor seemed to be exited too, and made a noise Angel had never heard before. He had no idea what had got Alastor in such a mood, but he wasn’t going to question it right now. This was amazing, he gently moved his hand up and down and the deep grunt that issued from Alastor made Angel almost squeal with pure delight. This was being burned into Angels brain, he wanted to remember everything about this, so when he was alone with himself he could relive the moment over and over. 

Alastor’s grunting was getting slightly more rhythmic, and he was tensing hard up against Angel, He had worked enough souls over to know what that he was almost approaching his limit, He quickly grabbed his own arousal, but he already knew he didn’t need much work. This was so intimate with the person he cared about, there wasn’t anything acted or false… just pure raw emotions. 

Alastor let out one last gasp before he unloaded all up Angels stomach and chest, the spider gasped in surprise about the distance and volume achieved, he gave a few more gentle tugs to get the last drips out and Alastor let out a hiss, clearly wasn’t used to the sensitivity afterwards, Angel retracted his hands and used them to catch his own release as he let out a final moan. Alastor seemed to become still for a few moments before he captured Angels lips in one last kiss before rolling off him. 

They were both still panting, Angel was being careful not to spread mess, but he needed to go clean up despite being so unbelievable comfortable, he slid quietly out and moved to the bathroom. He had closed the door when his fingers dragged a small amount off his chest, a guilty pleasure, he quickly tasted it, he didn’t dare do it in front of Alastor. 

_ Still warm… and iron?  _

His hand reached out and caught the light switch, his fur had patches of red everywhere, well everywhere that Alastor had touched him... even his neck. Angel paused for a few moments before turning on the shower and getting in.

“Well… shit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a short one, followed by a longer on, I spent most of my weekend writing the three of them simultaneously for some reason *shrugs*


	27. Four Thousand Four Hundred and Sixteen Hours and Counting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie starts to adjust to her new existence... sort of.

The first few days of not sleeping had been disconcerting, **72 hours** then Charlie started to adjust, there was no day or night. For the first week, **168 hours** at least she thought it was a week… she had stuck around with Vaggie, she still wasn’t leaving her room and spent a lot of time crying. As horrible as it felt Charlie was getting desensitized to it, perhaps if she could hear her it might be different, but a silent moving image of Vaggie distressed had stopped tugging at the blondes dead heart. 

She had slept seven times properly, so that should make a week. Occasionally Alastor would visit and bring Vaggie a meal, it was about the only time she would eat. Alastor seemed far more energetic recently, something had clearly made him much happier. The turning of the what must be the eighth day **192 hours** , Charlie decided to go elsewhere, Luckily Alastor had visited Vaggie fairly early and Charlie slipped out the door. Now was the long wait by each door for someone to pass by and slip out with them. 

A good portion of the day had gone by before a very frustrated Charlie had managed to get outside and onto the streets. The silence of the world she was living in was maddening, but at least she could speak her thoughts out loud, that way she didn’t seem quite so alone.

**336 hours** , her routine had set in, she would follow random souls for a day before being shut out or loosing interest and then move onto someone else, getting a slice of life of each of them. It kept the boredom at bay. During the night hours she would sit in the nearby clubs, doors were almost always open, and she could enjoy the music. It was the only relaxation she could still enjoy. It was one disappointing evening when she had tried to touch herself before realizing that she felt nothing down there… that was incredibly frustrating. 

**504 hours** , “You know what I’ve come to realize Me?” Me turned to answer the curious question.

“What’s that Charlie?” She was taken aback by how explosive Charlie’s reaction was.

“Everyone here sucks!” Me rolled her eyes, clearly Charlie was exaggerating for comical effect again. 

“Not everyone Charlie, Vaggie isn’t like them…” Charlie paused before nodding and relenting.

“Thanks for the correction Me, Don’t know what I’d do without you haha. But you’re right, Vaggie isn’t like any of them, she’s unique, I was so lucky to have her for as long as I did.”

“And she had legs for daaaays!” Me raised her eyebrows and wiggled them suggestively. 

“Get my mind out of the gutter!” Charlie feigned an insult but still laughed.

“Oh come on, you can’t say you didn’t love every moment with her, Charlie!”

“Stop it Me, if anyone else could hear me, this would be so embarrassing!” 

“Okay, okay! But anyway Charlie… how many liars, how many cheats?” Me raised a good point and Charlie scowled.

“All of them Me, they’re all awful people… I don’t know why I thought I could change them…” Me patted Charlie on the shoulder, it was a small comfort for something she couldn’t feel. 

“Don’t blame yourself Charlie, you couldn't follow them around like you can now.”

“I guess, but what a waste of time… at least Vaggie’s here... she’s perfect, she’ll get redeemed.”

“Hey Charlie, do you want to go back to the Hotel? Maybe we could watch her for a bit.”

“Yeah Me, that sounds nice.” 

**1008 hours,**

Charlie was sat down in Vaggie’s room once more, it was the place she felt most comfortable with, well after so many hours following around other demons she came to a disturbing understanding that she despised almost all the denizens of hell, she discovered too many disturbing truths they would give false smiles to each other before stabbing each other in the back, hiding things, sneaking out, cheating drug after drug after drug… all the fights, so many fights. 

She tried to get back to the palace but couldn't get past the gate, she tried to climb the wall afterwards and found some kind of barrier blocking her entry… it was like even her father didn’t want to speak to her any more, and he never responded when she shouted for him as loud as she could. It led her back to the hotel, at least it wasn't as enraging when she was around Vaggie. 

She was still quiet and spent a lot of time in her room, but now and then, she would venture out and come back a few hours later, So that was nice.

“Alright Princess, Truth or dare?” Princess sighed, 

“Why are you even calling it ‘truth or dare’ we don’t do the dares! It’s only truth.” Charlie rolled her eyes.

“Stop being dramatic, but fine! Would you rather fight One hundred chicken sized horses or one Horse sized chicken?” Me snorted with laughter as Charlie finished asking and Princess groaned. 

“That’s such a stupid question!” Me let out a moan.

“Oh give over Princess, that should mean its just easier to answer! Hurry up, you always take the longest to answer! I want my go” Princess crossed her arms and huffed. 

“Fine do I get any weapons?” Charlie paused for a moment whilst she thought about it.

“Erm, no! Just your body!” 

“Well looks like I’ll go for the tiny horses… also this is ‘would you rather’ not ‘truth and more truth’.” Charlie pouted.

“Stop taking all the fun out of it and just move onto Me!” Princess shuffled in place and asked her question.

“When was the last time you thought something erotic, about someone other than Vaggie?” Charlie spluttered.

“Princess! You can’t ask stuff like that.” Me shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s fine Charlie, I'm not a wet paper bag like you. It would have to have been when we followed that Imp couple a week or two ago? You know from that shitty looking business, but them screwing at their home was pretty hot, even if we weren’t the only ones watching… I miss feeling that down there.”

All three of them “Yeah… me too.” 

**2952 hours.**

“P-Please y-you guys are being r-really mean!”

“SHUT UP BROKEN, when we want your useless opinion we’ll fucking ask for it.” Charlie had rounded on the trembling girl, the other two were backing her up. All three of them hated Broken, she was such a downer, but she wouldn’t leave them the hell alone.

“I w-want to d-die, why aren’t w-we l-looking on how to do i-it?” It was Me’s turn now.

“What bright ideas do you have? What new thing are you bringing to the party? What? Nothing? Then keep that nothing to yourself, fucking bitch!” 

“Don’t c-call me t-that!” Broken was shaking. 

“Stop being such a drama queen, you don’t even feel that shook up, it's a pathetic attempt for sympathy and you’ll get none of it from us.” Princess turned her back before continuing to the others.

“Lets just ignore her, she’ll shut up eventually.” The other two nodded in agreement, an awkward silence descended. Broken did make a good point, unfortunately. None of them had a good idea on how to get into a more permanently dead state. They were getting sick of just hanging around. Moving outside and around they would follow more people, ones they hadn’t seen before, but it all ended in the same way… disappointment and loathing, no one seemed to be worth redemption. No one apart from Vaggie it seemed. 

**4416 Hours**

***

“Come on Vaggie!” Angel crossed his arms as Vaggie shook her head again. They were sat all together eating an evening meal in the dining area, Vaggie, Angel and Alastor. 

“No,” Vaggie was being deadpan again, she was tired of this same argument, again and again it went around. 

“It’s been months, come out with us!” Angel sighed loudly and nudged Alastor to join in, but he just shook his head. 

“I don’t feel like it.” She didn’t have a lot of energy for anything, Vaggie thought she was doing fine, she was making small progress and nobody was asking much of her. She was eating dinner right now, that was an improvement surely? Why can’t they just be happy with that and leave her to it. 

“Well what do ya feel like?” Vaggie took a long time to answer Angel.

“... Nothing.” 

“Well come out and feel nothing with us! Pleeeeease!”

“No! I’m going back to my room now.” Angel banged a hand on the table and caused Vaggie to stop momentarily.

“Look toots, I get you want to go at your own pace but this ain’t right!, just come out of your comfort zone a little, Cross my heart I won't try to get you wasted or anything… Look we can even go to one of the music clubs so you don't even need to talk to us? Come on… sounds pretty good? I’ll get off your back if you say yes, no more annoying Angel to deal with huh?” 

Vaggie thought it over… one uncomfortable night and then Angel could leave her alone. She let a harsh exhalation. 

“Fine, but you better not bother me afterwards, or expect me to dance or any shit!” Angel laughed and clapped his hands.

“You can sit miserably in a corner as long as you’re with us!” 

“I’ll go get changed and meet you outside then…” Vaggie left and Angel waited for her to leave before turning to Alastor.

“I’m gunna get her laid tonight!”

“Why Angel?”

“Can’t you tell, she needs to let off some steam! Start moving on like a regular person.” He pulled out his phone and started sending off a message. Alastor tried to peer at the screen but Angel tilted it away.

“Ahaha, no you don’t! Its gunna be a surprise. You gunna be alright joining me in a club?, I won’t ask you to dance Smiles but sitting together might be nice.” Alastor nodded, it was nice when they did things together, even now, Angel grinned and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“If you get really bored I can always do that thing you really like… ya know, with my tongue…” Alastor rolled his eyes at Angel’s teasing and carried on as if he heard nothing but the laughter that followed it. 


	28. Clubs, Drugs and Charlie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie gets taken out, Angel calls in a favour to get the grey skinned soul a good time for the evening. Charlie has a revelation.
> 
> All things come to an end.

It was good to be back out again, the approach to the club was quiet. Alastor vowed that this time he wouldn’t drink quite so much, Vaggie was moving quietly behind him, clearly she didn’t really want to be out in public but Angel after much moaning had managed to convince her that getting out would be good for her after being cooped up for so long. 

When they arrived there was a queue waiting to enter. Alastor simply walked past them, not one person called him out on it and there was a flurry of whispers that followed in his wake.

_ Good. _

He seemed to tower over the bouncer, who almost looked like he was about to start quaking in fear but plucked up enough courage to speak. Alastor recognized that voice, perfect it was that old bouncer who had insulted him before, It was a common misconception that Alastor would forget faces he only interacted with once or in passing. The radio demon had a good memory… He never forgot. 

_ Know your place _

“P-Please don’t kill anyone tonight.” He moved to one side letting them pass but Alastor had stopped and a wickedly sharp grin had spread across his face as he moved towards the unfortunate bouncer. 

“It depends my dear fellow, If they deserve it, doesn’t it? But pray tell me, what would you do, if I did?” You could see the panic light up in his eyes, this creature clearly wasn’t paid enough to deal with a monster like the radio demon. 

“N-nothing.” Alastor laughed out loud and leant in dangerously close.

“Then perhaps you should hold your tongue before saying something to me again, before I remove it.” With a snap Alastor had straightened up again and his regular smile appeared, ushering in Angel and Vaggie, Angel had a curious expression as he looked back at the bouncer who was sighing with relief, Vaggie seemed not to be paying attention. 

He preferred the other places that Angel had taken him to, but it wasn’t his request, this was all Angels’ idea after all, to try to get Vaggie out of her slump. The noise was loud as the bass blasted out and vibrated up Alastor’s chest. It was packed as sinners and demons all danced, grinding together. The scent of sweat was heavy in the air and it turned Alastor’s stomach just like last time he was here. 

This time however he didn’t need to push through the centre of the crowds, he wasn't here to hunt. Looking around the edges of the room there seemed to be the VIP Booths, secluded and private. Just what Alastor needed. He held Angels hand who in turn held onto Vaggie as they moved through the edge of the crowd. With the strobe lighting flashing constantly it was hardly a surprise that no one saw him until it was too late, he had to push past a few sinners, but this time as they turned to look at who was passing no random hand dared reach out to touch him, No drunken wolf dared make a pass at him.

_ They just needed to be reminded who I am. _

A part of him warmed to the idea that Angel wouldn’t be bothered once people knew he was in Alastor’s company, Angel’s happiness had started to register with Alastor, and he wanted to put in some effort to keep the spider happy. 

The first alcove they came across Alastor lent down and pressed his hands flat on the table and looked at the occupants, they flinched when a flash of white strobe lighting illuminated his smile at them all.

“You can have the table, I-if you want…” They had to really shout above the music to be heard but the tremble in the voice was still clear.

“Thank you for your generous offer.” He stood back allowing them to basically trip over each other in attempt to get out. He sat down closed followed by Angel, Vaggie had sat at the opposite side and put her elbow on the table propping her head up with her hand. It was clear she didn’t want to be here.

Angel gave Alastor a small nudge and indicated towards Vaggie before a sly grin spread on his mischievous face, he pulled out his phone and started texting someone under the table, fingers flying across the touch screen. Looks like there was a button set near the centre of the table, with a small image of a cocktail glass next to it. Perfect, Alastor didn’t need to risk the bar this time, he pressed it and it lit up. A few minutes later a slim figured imp made her way over, she took one look at Alastor and instinctively stepped back, he indicated with a hand for her to come closer, she took a nervous step towards him, eyes wide like a rabbit in headlights. Alastor quickly pulled himself up from his sitting position and fastened a hand around her wrist before speaking directly into her ear. She trembled from his touch but it was too late to try to escape now.

“You have nothing to fear from me my dear, just service with a smile will suffice.” He sat back down and placed and arm around Angel as he looked back at the waitress who was trying her best to calm down and smile. She took Alastor’s and Angel orders, whiskey and cocktails, then looking at Vaggie who was just staring down at the table.

“Hey Toots! What do you want?” Angel shouted out to get Vaggie’s attention, she briefly lifted her head and glanced towards the girl waiting for her order. 

“Just get me a beer…” She looked back down and sighed. Angel frantically waved at the waitress before she turned to leave.

“Get six!”

***

It was strange being in a room that was both so full and empty. The music was loud enough but Charlie felt none of its bass, none of its heart… it felt hollow. She moved effortless through the crowd passing through dancers, drinkers, and a pair of couples doing something on the dance floor that was unsanitary. She moved up and sat down in the booth taking a place next to Vaggie and looked at her.

“Why are you here? You don’t look like you want to be…” Charlie was musing to herself.

“It looks like she’s been dragged out here by these two sinners.” Princess crossed her arms and glared at Angel and Alastor.

“But maybe Vaggie will feel better, that should be worth it? Right?” Me was trying to reconcile the others, they all shuddered when Broken pipped up.

“I d-don’t want h-her to m-meet anyone t-tonight…” 

“Shut the fuck up Broken, no one here cares what you want!” Me was so sick of her, all the time with her negative shit, but she never stopped… she never fucking stopped. 

“B-but-”

“We said shut the fuck up you stupid fucking bitch! If Vaggie wants to be happy, let her be happy!” Charlie Snapped back, that seemed to silence all of them and Charlie sighed and placed her head into her hands. 

Hells, Charlie missed being able to hear and speak to other people. She had no idea what caused the three of them to come out like this, the only one who looked truly happy was Angel. Alastor seemed to be just be humouring Angel and Vaggie downright looked miserable. 

When the drinks arrived at the table Charlie was shocked how many beers Vaggie had ordered as they were placed around her, maybe it was more to do with Angel the way he grinned at her sipping at his large and colourful cocktail. Vaggie scowled but grabbed the first bottle next to her and took a large swig. 

***

“You need to loosen up!” Angel was shouting towards Vaggie, her expression seemed to darken.

“No I don’t! Shut up!” 

“I get it, but it’s been months! But you haven’t changed one bit!” 

“No you don’t get it! What am suppose to do? Go out and just forget about her and fall in love with someone else” Vaggie snapped her fingers “Just like that? Is that it!” Angel rolled his eyes.

“I don’t mean that, fuckin’ hell. Just go find someone and have a good night!” Vaggie paused for a moment

“I… can’t…”

“Well why not?” 

“I…” Vaggie stopped and took another long drink from her bottle.

“If it’s about Charlie,” Vaggie tensed and the mention of the name. “What do you think she would want? For you to mope around all the time?”

Vaggie didn’t speak but just shook her head.

“That’s fuckin’ right. Now get fuckin’ wasted and wake up to a couple of good mistakes! It’ll clear your head!” Angel drained the last of his cocktail away and pressed the button to get ready to order another, he looked at Alastor who was still only a third of the way into his own drink, he shook his head.

“I’m not going to try to match you again Angel, you go ahead without me.”

“Haha, Smiles you’re no fun!” He put on a fake pout but left it at that. Vaggie drained the rest of the bottle and pulled a fresh one towards her. She looked at the crowds in between the flashing lights. There were a lot of pretty faces, but how could Vaggie entertain the idea with how down she was feeling. 

_ Would it make me feel better?  _

Before coming to a decision there was sudden movement and someone new was staring down at her. Large blonde hair swept to one side with an equally fabulous pony tail, the small red tank top that seemed to accentuate her cleavage, and the large single red eye glinting down. Cherri Bomb took a moment to look Vaggie up and down before turning her head and shouting out.

“Angie! Where’s my favourite bitch been at?” Angel slid out past Alastor and hugged Cherri. 

“You know sugar-tits, getting into all sorts of trouble,” He grinned, Cherri glanced round to see Alastor staring curiously up at her. He was aware of her penchant for explosive entrances but their paths had never really crossed.

“Word on the street Angie, is that you’re hanging around with a strong and handsome demon nowadays.” She smiled wide at Alastor. Angel gave her a playful push.

“Hey now bitch, don’t be gettin’ any ideas! He’s mine.” Cherri laughed,

“Don’t worry Angie, I’m in the mood for something less smiley today.” Angel glanced an eye towards Vaggie who seemingly wasn’t paying attention to the conversation and had just finished downing her second beer before moving onto the third. The spider winked and whispered into Cherri’s ear

“Thanks babes, I owe ya.”

“Fucking right you do.” She grinned back. Waltzing back over to Vaggie’s side of the table she pointed next to the sulking soul.

“That seat taken?” Her shouting got over the music and Vaggie looked up at her to see that intense stare again, she shook her head and moved to the side to allow Cherri to pass by, there was more than enough room so why did Cherri have to get so close to Vaggie as she slid past. 

*** 

The seat was taken, and Charlie didn’t enjoy be sat on, she shuffled across and crossed her arms, something about Cherri’s arrival sat poorly with her. She was asking Vaggie something, Vaggie nodded and Cherri grabbed one of the spare beers, she didn’t drink it straight away and used a finger just to play around with the lip of the bottle. 

Charlie had to lean round to get a good look at Vaggie, she had taken her eyes off the table and seemed to be talking to Cherri.

“What are you saying?” 

Cherri was clearly laughing, and she slapped a hand on the table, Vaggie smiled weakly back. 

“I don’t like her Vaggie… you should stay away from her.” Broken wasn’t stuttering any more and for once the others were in agreement.

“She looks like the wrong sort of trouble.” Princess scowled.

“Wait Charlie, wasn’t she the one that was part of that turf war?” Me was trying to remember, the face was triggering a memory. Charlie snapped her fingers.

“Cherri Bomb! The fuck is she doing here?” Broken was repeating the same phrase over and over again.

“Stay away from her Vaggie. I don’t like her.” 

Looking over to Angel and Alastor, they were engaging in their own conversation quietly but Angels eyes were constantly darting towards Cherri and Vaggie and the smile was easy to see on his face, he was about as subtle as a brick wall. 

“You planned this didn’t you Angel?” Charlie crossed her arms and scowled as the two women chatted to each other. 

More alcohol arrived periodically over the next couple of hours, Alastor allowed himself a second drink, Angel had lost count and more bottles of beer were placed on the table as Cherri and Vaggie were sharing them, the latter seemed to be swaying ever so slightly and was a lot more chatty. Vaggie went to reach for another beer and Cherri was just as quick, their hands met, Vaggie said something and let go. Cherri responded and pushed the bottle towards Vaggie, looks like there was a red tinge on the grey face.

“Are you blushing Vaggie? COME ON! That was fucking choreographed!” Charlie threw her hands up in the air in frustration before banging them on the table a few times to make herself feel better. 

“She’s getting reeled in good and proper, Cherri must be a smooth one…” Me spoke thoughtfully. It set Broken off.

“She’s a  **FUCKING WHORE!”** The others choked, 

“Fucking christ Broken, calm the fuck down you stupid bitch, jeez.” Charlie shook her head, but the rage in Broken was almost contagious. 

Something was gnawing away at Charlie, was she feeling a flash of jealousy or unease?

“What the fuck are you saying to her!” Broken was still staring at their moving mouths. 

Cherri spoke and seemed to indicate the dance floor and Vaggie shook her head.

“Rejected, bitch! HA!” The dry laugh was cruel but it calmed all of them down.

“Well at least Vaggie’s got some sense, we knew she couldn’t be easily swayed, right?” Charlie seemed to be calming everyone down, well everyone except Broken, she was just on edge and grinding her teeth. 

Cherri didn’t seem put out and just slid a fresh beer towards Vaggie and clinked hers with it. Suddenly she had moved a lot closer to Vaggie and had whispered something into her ear. Vaggie’s eye went wide, and she looked at Cherri’s face smiling away at her, she looked uncertain as she spoke, playing with the ends of her top with her fingers.

Cherri’s hand drifted up before plunging down her own top reaching inside her bra she pulled out a small transparent plastic bag, inside sat two pills, a smiling face stamped on each one. She placed the bag down on the table and Vaggie’s eye locked on to it, she said a few words and Cherri shuffled forward and nodded before placing a free hand on Vaggie’s thigh.

“Where the fuck did that come from?! Vaggie you said that drugs aren’t the answer. The fuck are you doing? Tell her to get lost!” Charlie was exclaiming and trying to stand up as if somehow that would give her a better look at what Vaggie’s facial expression was. 

“Look Vaggie hates drugs, right? Cherri’s just ruined her chances.” Princess spoke sense but none of them felt better for it. 

It was almost reflex Broken tried to grab the bag and throw it away, she couldn’t move it an inch of course, and she gave up. Vaggie hadn’t said anything for a while now, but she also hadn’t moved the hand away from her thigh. 

“You’re stronger than this Vaggie! Come on! This is the sort of shit Broken did, not you!” Me was almost pleading.

Vaggie finally said something her mouth barely moving, Cherri grinned hard, before reaching for the bag.

“ **No no no no no no!** ” Broken was screaming. 

Cherri undid it and held one of the pills in between two of her fingers, she placed it straight in her mouth and washed it down with beer. Vaggie was unable to look away, the second pill came out and Cherri placed it on her tongue and slowly pulled it back into her mouth not breaking eye contact.

“Oh thank fuck for th-...” Charlie’s words caught straight in her throat. 

Cherri had moved in and kissed Vaggie deeply, a hand wrapped around the back of her neck. Well, Charlie knew where that pill was now… When they parted Vaggie was panting slightly and immediately reached for her drink and downed a large portion of it. Charlie sat in shock,

“Vaggie… you’re supposed to be stronger than me… did you lie to me?” She couldn't believe it, none of them could. 

***

Vaggie could feel her heartbeat inside her own skull, her breathing felt noisy but the music was drowning out all of that, it was the tingling sensation as Cherri was running a hand up her thigh that had her full attention. 

“You ready for that dance now?” Vaggie could only nod and her pupil had begun to dilate. Cherri stood up and rather than sliding past Vaggie she straddled past her making sure their bodies touched as she moved past. That shot electricity up and down Vaggie’s being who took Cherri’s hand when she offered it and before she knew it she was being led away to the dance floor.

Cherri looked back and blew a kiss back at Angel. The spider leant in to Alastor.

“She’s fuckin’ good Smiles, let’s get out of here I wouldn’t mind walking back with you… just us.” He squeezed Alastor’s arm who quickly drained his glass and got up to leave.

“Thanks, this place is getting a little too noisy for me.” Angel gave him that cheeky grin again. 

“Haha you’re just old-fashioned!”

Something was rattling inside Vaggie’s head as she drifted along, it was euphoric, the feeling of all the dancing bodies pressed up against her as she was led on. Just a couple of hours ago she felt miserable and would never imagine being here on the dance floor, now nothing seemed wrong and Cherri was going to dance with her, and that was going to feel great!

_ Charlie I get why you did this, fuck I wish I knew it was this good before, this helps. _

Cherri stopped and pulled Vaggie’s hips in as they started to dance, Vaggie almost felt like she was hyperventilating as her breaths came in hard and fast, but this whole experience was almost too intense, the light strobing across her eye and the warmth and smell of all the bodies moving around her, it was so intimate, but they didn’t hold a candle to the firm hands that were gripping around her and pulling her into a rhythmic grind. Vaggie’s moan was lost in the noise as a fire burnt its way inside her. 

Cherri was enjoying the light buzz, a lifetime down here had given her an unholy tolerance for substances at this point, still her partner for tonight seemed to be diving straight off the deep end. Maybe she should have brought a weaker dose. It hardly mattered Angel had told her that she needed a good time, and she was pretty enough that Cherri could have some fun with her too, well this was going to be one hell of a night. As they danced Vaggie started to acclimatize to her new senses, she had wrapped her hands around Cherri’s waist and was pawing at her back with her hands. Her one eye seemed to be almost entirely pupil now, just one big black orb, and she was sweating heavily. 

Letting go of one of Vaggie’s hips Cherri snuck a hand up under her dress and played with the edges of her underwear. Vaggie seemed to be trembling, she slid fingertips down past the fabric, and Vaggie squeezed in harder and gasped in her ear. 

Cherri captured a kiss at about the same time she played around with Vaggie. Vaggie gasped and started moaning loudly, she didn’t care or even notice that she was getting looks from others on the dance floor, Cherri had started getting hot under the collar as her buzz lifted her up high too. The two intimate dancers continued for the next couple of songs. Cherri was teasing and only giving Vaggie a taste of relief whenever she would grind closer, Vaggie wanted more and was trying desperately to get it.

Cherri pulled her hand out from Vaggie’s underwear earning a whine, as the grey skinned soul held her tightly. How pent up was Vaggie? It was almost funny. For Vaggie everything had gone blurry and the next thing she knew was she was being pulled through the crowd again and could feel wetness trickling down her inner thigh, her heart was hammering like a pneumatic drill. Before she could blink she was being pushed inside a toilet cubicle, the door got locked and lid went down on the toilet before Cherri pushed Vaggie to sit on it, she reached under her dress again and slid Vaggie’s underwear down past her ankles, they landed with a damp thump on the floor. Cherri pulled down her torn tights giving herself some relief she straddled over Vaggie who was gasping up at her before grabbing her the grey souls head and pressing it straight into her crotch. She was not disappointed with the level of energy Vaggie was dedicating to her as she felt a tongue running in and out, she gripped her hair.

***

The cubicles were walled to the ceiling with only a tiny gap by the floor, it wasn’t enough to peer under properly, but she could see two sets of feet in a strange position moving very rhythmically, with Vaggie’s underwear laying discarded next to them. She didn’t even know why she followed them, the dance floor was sickening enough, but some morbid curiosity got the better of her and now she was in the toilets. She was feeling angry and betrayed, not because of Vaggie currently fucking another demon in a cubicle, she was prepared for Vaggie to start moving on and had expected it at some point. No it was because she had turned so easily to drugs after giving Charlie such a hard time about the same subject. 

“Stop them, STOP THEM!” Broken was almost panicking, Me threw her fucking hands up in exasperation.

“For fuck sake Broken, we CANNOT get in there, there’s nothing we can do, you’re giving me a fucking headache with your constant moaning, give it a fucking break!” Broken fell quieter but she was still murmuring to herself. 

It felt hypocritical and Charlie fumed staring at the locked cubicle, the walls on one side looked like they were being slammed into again and again, if they kept at it like that they may buckle. Maybe for once Charlie was glad she couldn’t hear, from the looks and sniggers of the others using the toilets it sounded like they were not being quiet. 

“How long are you going to fucking take in there!” She kicked the door, not it made a noise or helped her feel better.

“Maybe we should just leave now?” Princess suggested to the group, it made sense, this was just self-inflicted torture.

“NO! We need to make sure Vaggie is safe!” Broken spoke out again, Charlie sighed and rubbed fingertips into her temple. 

“She’s fine, looks she’s high as a kite right now… just like the rest of them… she’s just like everyone else.” 

“You were supposed to be better than me Vaggie… you were supposed to be different!” Broken lifted herself and sat on the of the sinks, occasionally she was interrupted when someone put their hands right through her when they went to wash their hands. They all fell silent and were just waiting. 

After an unknowable amount of time the door opened and Cherri was leading Vaggie out by the hand, Vaggie had a grin from ear to ear and her legs were still shaking, hair looked like a mess and there was lipstick smeared all over her neck. Her dress was uneven and Charlie could see the damp patch on it. Hand in hand they left, Vaggie seemed to be giggling away.

Charlie glanced back and noticed Vaggie’s underwear was still discarded on the floor.

“Fucking hells.” 

***

Charlie was staring up at the Hotel, she never followed Vaggie past the exit of the club, Cherri and Vaggie had got a taxi and drove off leaving Charlie to walk around. She eventually found herself back at the hotel, and she was just outside it, not moving.

“This is a monument to my failure…” Charlie wasn’t sad, it was spoken so matter of factly. 

“It was never going to work Charlie, they’re all the same…” Me spoke next followed by Princess all of them spoke blankly.

“Even Vaggie is the same… A hypocrite.” Broken was the only one feeling emotions and it was a raging inferno of anger.

“ **How can I be weak, if they’re all the same as me? TELL ME HOW I’M WEAK?”** Princess tried to speak out first. 

“Broken calm down, you’re not helpin-”

“ **SHUT UP PRINCESS YOU STUCK UP BITCH, I’VE HAD ENOUGH!”** There was a lurching sensation and Princess was gone. The other two were wide-eyed, Me was next

“You fucking crazy bitch what did you just do?” Broken ignored her.

**“Why do they get to move around freely! WHY AM I CAST OUT? THEY DISGUST ME… ALL OF THEM! THEY’RE ALL BENEATH ME”**

“You’ve gone too far Broken, you’re just a sick freak! Just do me a favour and shut the fu-” There was another lurch and it was just Charlie left with the burning anger screaming at the hotel. 

“What do you want?” Charlie was speaking softly, but she was terrified and there was nothing she could do any more. Broken raised a finger and pointed straight at the hotel.

“ **Burn it, CAST IT DOWN!”**

**“** B-but we c-cant, we’re g-gone… dead.” She was trembling now, her voice getting quieter and quieter. 

**“I don’t care, I’ll find away to tear it all away!”** She fell to knees and let out a banshee’s scream. Her fingers were digging deep into her palms, it was hurting her… it… was… hurting… her.

**“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH”** The quiet voice was gone, only one voice screamed out now. She didn’t notice the shadow looming over her fallen form. There was a yanking sensation and Charlie was thrown backwards, speeding across the entire city skyline she never moved her eyes, staring at the large sign of her hotel getting smaller and smaller in the distance till it was nothing but a speck on the horizon. Her body slammed straight into a window and sailed straight through it, She was laying down and drew in a huge lung full of air and let out another scream, a terrible scream.

The golden edges buckled first, the price of being such a soft metal, it bubbled and splattered away on the floor, the glass planes seemed to sag and started to glow, When the first hole appeared in the glass as it dripped to the floor there was an almighty rush as the inferno poured out the tiny gap to consume the fresh air in the room, The soft toys practically combusted as the hellish fire whipped around, Igniting the paintings and pictures mounted on the walls, the paint burnt away leaving nothing but black scorch in its wake. The shock wave that followed blew out the glass out of the windows and fractured the marble block as the rest of the casket blew apart. 

Charlie staggered up from the burning wreckage, her horns were up and eyes a dark red, teeth sharp and her mouth open as she gasped for air, she could taste fire and blood. 

“Haah… Haah… Haah”

Fire danced around her claws and with a closing of her fist the flames went out, She steadied herself and took a step forward, there was a crunch, she looked down to see a half blackened piece of paper, reaching down she took it. It was a painting of a rainbow, she grimaced at it and closed her claws around it, it crumbled into dust chunks and were scattered to the floor. The door swung open, and her eyes darted up, fire already licking its way around her forearms again.

“Have you gained perspective, daughter?”


	29. Charlies Second Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's back, and *better* than ever. 
> 
> The term *better* is subjective.

There was a silence between them, the only noises came from the crackling of the flames and Charlie’s gasping breaths. Standing in her old scorched room her red eyes were focused and unblinking on her father in her doorway. She walked forwards Charlie’s legs still felt uneasy, it had been a long time she had actually felt them. Lucifer seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move.

She raised a hand, the flames still swirling around it. Tentatively… carefully she reached out and touched Lucifer’s lapel. The fabric was soft on her fingers, this was real… It felt solid, the flames licked upwards but didn’t phase him in the slightest, why would fire in hell bother the devil after all.

How long had it been? How many months had passed whilst she had been starved of interaction with another creature… anyone. She moved her fingers away and noticed the dark stain of soot she left behind… she was leaving her mark on the world again. Charlie’s wide eyes moved up to look her dad straight in the eye, he was looking as calm and collected as ever. 

Charlie gently touched her fathers cheek, she could feel his warm skin, it was more than just significant, it was the end to a nightmare that Charlie had been trapped in. She grabbed around his waist and pulled herself forward into an embrace, it wasn’t loving or compassionate, she just needed to feel something, and with Lucifer wrapping his own arms around her shoulders she felt it. A flaming nimbus and Lucifer. 

“I hate them… I hate them all so much!” Her anger was growing more intense and the surrounding flames burnt brighter, it had started to peel the paint on the walls in the corridor and the floor was buckling under the heat. 

“I know.” Lucifer was still calm as ever, but Charlie was just running through the emotions pounding in her head. 

“I want to hurt them dad! I really want to…”

“Daughter…” His warning tone angered Charlie, her sharp teeth drew into a cruel snarl, she snapped at him. Pulling away from him she stepped back into the room, the blackened wood underfoot was splintering. 

“What? Isn’t this what you wanted? Isn’t this how you want me to be?”

“Rage will get you nowhere… it was a lesson that I learnt a millennia ago… please listen to me Charlie, even if its just this once.” 

She closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. The fire flickered and died, she was pushing the rage aside for now. She trusted that her dad knew a thing or two about this and was willing to listen for the time being. Her eyes were still red and horns still sharp as ever, it looked like those were there to stay. She ran a tongue along the inside of her shut mouth, she would have to make sure not to accidentally bite her tongue, these new teeth would hurt.

“I haven’t eaten since forever, get me dinner dad and let's talk… then I’ll see about afterwards.” 

“Try not to burn down the dinning room, the table is an antique.” 

“Don’t upset me then… deal, Dad?” Lucifer didn't respond but walked off, Charlie following behind him, now and then she would use a sharpened finger nail to gouge a small groove in the wall, It was so good to be able to touch things properly again. Her grin was low and menacing as she felt the real world around her once more. 

***

Vaggie groaned and rolled over, she was lying naked in her bed, her head was pounding and her throat felt dry and scratchy. She wanted to get a drink of water and started to shuffle out of the bed.

“Owww” she placed a hand to her crotch and winced, she was really sore. Half staggering, half waddling she got to her bathroom and in the darkness drank straight from the tap. She gulped down as much as she could, swallowing hurt too.

Turning on the light she looked at herself in the mirror to review the damage. It was pretty bad. Lipstick stains on her mouth, she could see bite marks down her neck and shoulders, there was also the choke marks all around her throat, they were coming up a treat, she gingerly touched one and winced again. 

Cherri had let herself out already and Vaggie was alone, she was unlikely to see her again, well most likely wasn’t going to see her again. As much as she hated it Angel was right… that was fantastic, she definitely needed it. Most of it was still a blur as she staggered back to bed, they were still all over each other in the taxi ride, Vaggie had to bite down as Cherri had merciless played with her during the journey, she couldn’t remember where she had left her underwear. 

It had been hours, hours of two tussling bodies rolling around in Vaggie’s sheets, the bedding was ruined, it had been torn and ripped in places. Cherri had told Vaggie that she could “Eat out like a pro.” Considering how hard she screamed, Vaggie believed her. Only once the come down had started did the exhaustion really catch up and Vaggie couldn't even lift her head off the bed, she just about managed to roll over, Cherri had got dressed spanked Vaggie hard across the rear and left after blowing her a kiss, Vaggie passed out almost immediately. 

Flopping back down she pulled up the torn sheets to cocoon herself, this hangover was going to suck, Vaggie was going to stay in bed all day. Still…

_ Worth it.  _

It hadn’t made the pain in her heart lessen, but it was good distraction and it showed Vaggie that she could feel happy again, even if it was just a little at a time.

“Next time, I’ll do it sober…” She shut her eye and tried to get back to sleep.

***

A rabid wolf had more table manners than Charlie right now, she tore into her meal with wild abandon, cutlery forgotten, it had been so long since she felt things in her hands it just felt right to pick the meats and just tear them apart. Her sharp teeth did a wonderful job at eviscerating large chunks of red. The taste of food again was beyond exquisite and her taste buds sang in her mouth. It was both messy and noisy, Charlie cared about neither. 

Lucifer wasn’t eating and sat on the far side of the table away from her, he held his hands together forming a pyramid and was just staring calmly and quietly at his feral daughter waiting for her to finish. He had a tea set by his side and poured some hot liquid into a small cup.

“So what did you want to tell me before I go?” Charlie had finished and finally wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“I have a story to tell you,” Charlie groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Dad, I hate philosophical stories, spare me won’t you?” Alastor held up a single hand towards his daughter.

“No Charlie this is about when I was first cast down here.” Charlie fell silent almost instantly, Lucifer hardly ever talked about himself especially about such a sensitive subject, Charlie was pretty sure mom didn’t even know the full details. Lucifer took a sip from the small cup and smiled at the delectable taste.

“When I was first banished here, I felt much like you do now, full of anger about being surrounded by such imperfect flawed creations, I was doomed to spend the rest of eternity with them. I let my rage consume me, like you want to do right now, you know what it got me Charlotte?” 

Charlie shook her head.

“Nothing… it got my nothing. I spent centuries hunting souls down, destroying them, punishing them for simply existing, no matter how hard I tried more would always arrive daily, an unending amount. I couldn’t change that fact and neither can you.” 

Charlie looked over at her father’s serious expression, was this the first time they were having a frank and open conversation. Had her father been waiting for her fall, so he could open up about his experiences?

“So what do I do then, dad?” Charlie could feel her anger and just the thought of hurting one of the sinners outside made her inside squeal with joy… they deserved it!

“Learn to exist with it, find a way to enjoy yourself, use them for whatever you feel like. Occasionally you’ll find a few who you can tolerate.”

“Like Alastor? You kept him alive.” Charlie would sink her teeth right into that smiling fucks throat, watch him gargle out on his own fluids

“Yes daughter, he isn’t just a mindless killer he understood how the game was played once he realized that you were off limits. He was useful and now he’s carving up a section of the city that he calls his own domain. Bringing order to chaos.”

“He is? When did that happen?”

“He struck fear into the hearts of other souls during a long and bloody night. He was compensating for his own insecurities but I cannot fault him for his actions, it was precise and exactly what was needed.” 

“So… you want me to just go out and enjoy myself?” 

“Do you still wish to be dead? Last chance Charlotte, I can make you move on this time, no going back. You have my word.” Charlie went very still and thought about it for a long time, here was her chance to be gone… but why should she?

“Can you answer a question of mine first? Be honest.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think I should be dead?” She was staring straight at him when she asked, Lucifer paused and placed his cup back down and put both hands flat on the table.

  
“No I don’t Charlie, you mean a great deal to me, if you weren’t here… it would be less bright.”

“W-What?” Charlie was always shocked when her dad expressed any kind of emotional response

“You asked for the truth…” He was so calm about it. 

“I want to live… okay? I hate them and maybe I’m just being selfish but, why should they get to exist when I won’t?” 

“It’s not selfish, you’re better than all of them daughter, It took a great deal of strength to try to change them.”

“Look where that got me…” Charlie laughed dryly. 

“You tried Charlie, and you kept at it for longer than I thought you would, that means something. You owe them nothing, they owe you everything.” Charlie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 

“You’re alright at being a dad sometimes…”

“You don’t need to try to flatter me, where do you want to stay?”

“Could I have a room here for a bit, whilst I figure things out…”

“Certainly, I doubt any of your old effects survived your inferno,”

“I think I’m over that phase now… Can we go see mom, I want to see her. Then I’m going out for a bit. I’ve got some living to catch up on.” 

“Of course we can, are you ready now?” 

“Yes.”

***

Charlie gasped as she was pushed up against the wall of the alleyway she had decided was secluded enough. She had trouble wrapping her arms around the broad shoulders of the creature she had propositioned, the muscles were attractive enough, his technique less so. But being lifted and pressed against the wall was a fun novelty. Her trousers lay discarded on the floor by his feet. Tilting her head up she found it an unpleasant sensation as her horns scraped against the wall, she winced… still trying to get used to them being constantly there. His dark red skin almost matched her eyes, it was glistening with sweat as he grunted pushing up inside her. He seemed to be going for speed over power and Charlie had to struggle not to roll her eyes. She shifted her hips around and tried to get a better angle for herself, suddenly he hit her sweet spot, and she finally gasped out.

“Fuck! Just like that… keep going just like that!” 

“Yeah, you fucking loving this baby?” His voice was like nails on a chalkboard. 

“Ugh… please… just keep fucking… don’t talk.” He was about to open his mouth but seemed to think better of it, not every day a gorgeous blonde with striking red eyes asked if you wanted to help her get off. The Easiest fuck ever… well at least that’s what he thought. 

Charlie needed the relief, and even if it wasn’t the most ideal, it would do, she was getting closer and just shut her eyes, it was easier that way. Fatally... for one of them at least, he came first, Grunting out loudly he came in Charlie, her eyes snapped open as he had stopped moving.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What I’m fucking done!” 

“You said you could help get me off… not fucking finish before I got MINE! Use your hand or something!” 

“I’m not sticking my hand in there! I’ve just cum in there, that's fucking gay!”

**“WHAT?”** Charlie bared her teeth, that was the last straw. His skin ignited, the howl that followed was both pain and surprise, He tried to throw Charlie off, but she had wrapped her legs around him tightly and her arms gripped round his neck and one smothered his mouth, making his screaming a bit quieter. Desperation was setting in as skin began to crack and peel away revealing the bubbling fat beneath. He rammed her hard into a wall and was biting down on her hand.

“You’re just a fucking animal, I’m better than you!” She hissed through gritted teeth, the pain she was experiencing was fleeting, she was used to pain by now. The marrow in his bones was boiling and the bones were splintering under the heat, he had stopped screaming and fell backwards. Charlie relaxed her legs and stood up from the charred smouldering corpse, looking down she spat at him.

“Wasting my fucking time.” She reached down to pick up her discarded clothes and started to put them back on. She dusted herself off and picked a few bits of charred skin that had got stuck to her top.

_ Time to find someone better. _


	30. Hedonism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie continues to enjoy herself, she makes a small whoopsie.

“Uuuh, that’s good... I needed this” Charlie was letting out a soft moan as she lay face down on the padded table. Warm oils were being spread over her naked body as the masseuse’s four hands worked magic across her shoulders, neck and back. Her pale skin was glinting in the soft light of the darkened room. 

“You’ve got a lot of tension up here, have you been dealing with stress?” Soft-spoken tones added to the atmosphere of the room, there was a handful of lit scented candles in the corner, casting flickering shadows. 

“Mmm, you have no idea.” She moaned softly again as her flesh was being kneaded firmly. Charlie was glad she visited this place, she was getting a bit too pent-up and needed the relief right now! She decided to bite the bullet and just pay for it instead, at least this way she knew she would get her satisfaction. 

The erotic massages were just too tempting and oh boy was Charlie glad she went for one.

“Has anyone ever told you, you look really similar to Princess Charlotte?” Charlie had to suppress a snigger.

“Yeah, I’ve had people comment… go lower.” The hands reached down and were gently rubbing their way across her lower back and starting on the top of her thighs. Charlie closed her eyes in delight.

“You’ve got a very similar body type, and the same hair! But your eyes are different and I don’t think the princess had horns. Shame what happened...” 

“Guess that makes me the lucky one.” The women massaging Charlie giggled. She was simultaneously rubbing down her calves and the balls of her feet. Every inch of Charlie felt like it had been touched and gently relaxed, well almost all of her.

“Are you ready?” Charlie grumbled, was it time already… she was enjoying the massage and wished it would continue, at least the next part would be good. She rolled over to look up at her masseuse, she was a slim fit spider-esque creature, but her hands were soft as velvet.

“Sure.”

“I've got a speciality if you’re interested, or I can just use my hands?”

“What’s th-” Charlie stopped speaking as the spider let her tongue hang out of her mouth, it almost reached her collarbone, it was thin and snake-like and looked... so very dextrous. Charlie grinned as her eyes flashed a little redder.

“Do I even need to answer that?” The lady nodded and leant down and placed a kiss on Charlie’s navel before moving down lower. Charlie preemptively gripped the sides of the table she was lying on.

_ This is going to be amazing. _

It was… so god-damned amazing! After Charlie’s first orgasm in what felt like an ageless eternity she was grinning like a maniac and rubbing her cheeks with both hands, she hadn’t felt a smile like that in a while. She had asked for the masseuse’s name, put it into her phone and thanked her. She would definitely be coming back here again. Charlie showered off the remaining oils and her lingering excitement before getting dressed, she was wearing a hooded top, it was comfortable and helped hide her face, not that she was hiding from anyone in particular, what did she have to fear now? It’s just she hated to be bothered. She had to cut holes in the top to accommodate her horns and it made her realize that hat shopping was about to become a new nightmare for her. She left the building, hood pulled up. 

Stepping outside she grimaced as the sights of all the busy sinners just moving down the streets, it made her anger flair up again, she had to take a deep breath, she had just spent a lot of cash to relax and wasn’t about to ruin it now. Something glinting caught her eye, it was one of the many drug vending machines, they were so often dotted outside the sex clubs, she made her way over and looked over the menu. 

“... What to try, what to try…”

_ If all these other liars and cheats do it? Why can’t I? _

She paid up and pressed the ‘coke’ button, a small package was dispensed, and she took it, and placed in one of her pockets for later.

“Hey sexy, how much for you to show me a good time?” Charlie froze and turned slowly, the idiot clearly thought she worked here, but something crossed her mind and Charlie flashed a coy smile.

“For you handsome, How about I give you discount? Let's just keep this between us and go somewhere a little more secluded… sound good?” 

“Fuck yeah baby, let’s go!” 

_ Hook line and fucking sinker… moron. _

It was almost second nature, sliding his jacket off his body, pressing herself close to him, running a hand up and down his shirt and leaning her face close to his and... tearing his filthy throat out with her bare teeth… the warm wet splashes on her face left Charlie with an exhilarated rush as he tried to clutch out at her, Charlie just kicked him over and left him gurgling and spluttering. She used the clean jacket to wipe her face down before dumping it on him, She had already taken his cash, that would recoup some of her expenses today. She absent-mindedly traced a few of her fingers along her hair, finger talons scraping her scalp, she left a small trail of red. Charlie would get a whiff of blood now and then and it always made her smile. 

***

It was a strange shock having to wait in a queue to get into a music venue, in her ethereal state she just walked straight in, now she was what, tenth in line? And it was moving slowly. Charlie tapped her foot and rested up against the wall the building whilst she waited.

*Bmm Bmm Bmm*

The wall was vibrating with the bass coming from within, Charlie grinned, she hadn’t felt music in so long and couldn’t wait to start dancing. After a while she was let in when another group left, the place was clearly packed. She had to jostle her way through the crowds to get to the bar and it took another long wait before a space opened up, she was at the bar now. It would have irritated her if it wasn’t for the thought of finally being able to dance properly again.

“What do you want?” One of the bartenders had stopped after Charlie waved her arm enthusiastically to get his attention. 

“Get me a couple of shots, make it a surprise!” She handed over the cash, the bartender probably wouldn’t notice the blood stains on the note. She put her hand into a pocket and pulled out her small package, lent over the bar top and used a finger to split the bag open, the white powdered crystal spilled out. Charlie fumbled putting the bag back into her pocket and let out an embarrassed smile. Others were looking at the strange antics of the blonde as she started to rearrange the pile with her fingers. 

“Now how do I do this?... Erm Angel said about doing lines of coke… So I need to make lines?... Seems boring.” 

Charlie was sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth as she concentrated. By the time the Bartender returned with two shot glasses, one liquid was dark and the other was clear. Charlie was grinning at her handiwork, there was a small frowning faced doodle on the counter made up of tiny white lines of cocaine. The bartender rolled his eyes and slid the shot glasses towards her, before leaving.

Charlie felt the powder on her fingers and quickly licked them clean, she cautiously sniffed the two shots, one smelt of liquorish and the other smelt like cough syrup. Charlie had seen enough gangster films to know what to do now, she pulled out another cash note and started to roll it up. She looked like a novice and was getting quite a few stares, demons were waiting to see how badly this was going to go… that was an awful lot of for one person… in one go. 

She rather zealously pressed the rolled up note up the nostril a bit too hard and it made her wince, she took it out, blinked a few times and rubbed her nose with her free hand. Before trying again. Glancing down, the frowny face of white was looking back. Charlie planned her route, outside working in, and she would finish with the mouth. Just like a ‘connect the dot’ puzzle.

“...Right, okay!” She bent down and holding one hand to her make-shift straw and the other hand had a finger that kept her other nostril closed. She inhaled hard as she moved around the little face… now she knew why it was just lines… her head felt dizzy. Straightening up there was only a few patches of residue left. She removed the note from her nose and notices how the tip of it was red, placing a finger to her face. She had a nosebleed, pinching her nose shut she grabbed the dark coloured shot and downed it. It was warm and sticky and went down a treat. The second one went down after, that was far more fluid but it burned something fierce going down and Charlie coughed a few times and had to pat her chest. 

She still felt light-headed and had to be careful when moving away from the bar, but now it was time for dancing. Charlie felt the eyes watching her move off, it was invasive and made her uncomfortable.

_ Fucking stop looking at me. _

She pushed deeper into the crowd to get away and made her way to the very centre of the dance floor just as a new song started. She jumped up and down with her hands in the air as the beat dropped. Her whole body vibrated with the sounds of the music, and she couldn’t help but start laughing. Head tilted up she stared at her hands dancing around in the flashing lights. Charlie felt wide awake and so alert, she was focused so intently on her dancing everything else seemed to fall away into nothingness. When the music changed up a mosh pit had started and almost without thinking Charlie had thrown herself into it, Jumping around and bumping into people, it was so energetic, and she loved every second of it. Her grin was ear to ear, and she shouldered into as many people as she could jump at rebounding around like a spinning top.

She was having an amazing time and her whole body was brimming with endorphins, she couldn’t stop laughing and her screams of joy were never heard over the sound of the loud music.

She couldn’t stop laughing when her hands were high in the air again.

She couldn’t stop laughing when the flash of fire danced past her fingertips.

She couldn’t stop laughing when the shouting had started to drown out the music.

She couldn’t stop laughing when she brought her hands down and clutched them to her chest.

She couldn’t stop laughing when the hellfire was spiralling out around her.

She couldn’t stop laughing when there was an almighty rush of bodies as panic set in and the music suddenly stopped.

She **didn’t** stop laughing when she detonated, The twisted mass of heat exploding out, the walls buckle and flaming debris and bodies rained down into the surrounding streets. The fireball raised high into the sky. Charlie was crouched amidst the ruins, she was shaking with excitement. Getting up she moved quickly away, luckily with the dark cloud and ash present everywhere, it obscured her from sight.

It was a few blocks away when she leaned up in a quiet corner, looks like the area had been vacated, probably thinking another turf war had started everyone had left or shut themselves inside. She had the jitters and was still reliving the rush over and over again, the panicked faces and the screams, all the fire! The adrenaline flowing she quickly shoved hand down her pants.

_ Just a quick one… need to hold onto this feeling, just wish someone else was with me, Vaggie could always make me cu- _

Her thought stop dead, and she pulled her hand away, she wasn’t in the mood for it any more and scowled. 

“Fucking downer…” Charlie let out a hissing sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, her hands came back blackened, looks like she was covered in soot and ash. 

“Now I need a shower.” She grumbled and wiped her hands on her legs, it didn’t make them any cleaner. Grumbling more, she made sure her hood was up and headed back towards the palace, it was going to be a long walk. Head turned downwards she didn’t need to look up, the gates opened automatically and Charlie trudged back up the path. 

Getting to the steps she finally looked up and saw her father, wearing his brown overalls, looked like he was re potting a shrub, a large bag of fertilizer lay cut open next to him, and he was shovelling it into a large clay base. He called towards his filthy daughter.

“Making quite a scene out there?” Lucifer had stopped moving the fresh earth and looked over at her, she didn't stop to turn around. 

“Yes dad.” Charlie rolled her eyes as she climbed the front steps. 

“You should be more careful or you’ll attract the wrong sort of attention.”

“I will, dad” Opening the door she stepped inside, a twisted smile formed as she looked down to see the blackened footsteps she was tracking inside… not her problem. 

***

Alastor didn’t like not knowing something, so how come there was a massive explosion on the news, and no one, not even him knew how it started. No one was claiming it as their handiwork, No one was throwing a gauntlet down for a fight. He was standing in his hotel room and looking out the window, the smoke cloud had cleared a few hours ago, but he still stared in its direction pondering things. 

Buildings don’t just explode on their own, he was brooding and didn’t hear Angel sneak up behind him. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” The pink spiders sudden appearance next to him caused his mouth to twitch, that was the best Angel was going to get, but he had been spending too much time around Alastor and was starting to get clued in on his tells.

“Haha, made you jump Smiles!” He cuddled round Alastor’s middle and placed his head on his red suited shoulder. 

“Only a little.” He got a tiny jab into his sides as Angel laughed again before kissing into the radio demons neck. 

“You’re a bad liar when you get flustered.” Angel was playfully leaving a series of tiny love bites around his collar. Alastor didn’t mind, they felt warm enough, and he knew it was Angels way of marking him as his. It made Angel happy and by some strange extension kept Alastor happy too. 

“Angel, have you heard anything about the explosion earlier.”

“Nu-huh” Angel was too busy kissing the back of his neck now to answer properly. Alastor grinned, Angel was relentless when he wanted to be cuddly it was endearing… sort of. 

“Angel…” He whispered into Alastor’s ear in response

“Yeah Smiles?” Alastor tilted his head to look Angel right in the eye. 

“What do you want?” 

“You… like right now.” Angel was squeezing his hands and moving them up and down the radio demon’s chest, he was playing with Alastor’s buttons on his top, he wouldn’t undo them without getting the go ahead, but pawing at them made his intentions very clear. 

“Fine, I suppose I can investigate this afterwards.” There was a squeal of delight as Angels hands frantically unbuttoned the clothes and slipped them off. Now kissing at his bare shoulders he started pulling Alastor towards the bed, with a final look out the window he turned his attention to the needy spider. 

  
  
  
  



	31. The Hunter and Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor gets his detective hat on, Charlie has gained an unusual appetite.

Angel was sleeping soundly when Alastor rose out of the bed, he looked back on the sleeping body and ran a hand gently across his cheek, Angel seemed to smile slightly and wriggled a small amount, Alastor stood up turned back and tucked the remaining blankets around Angel and left to get his clothes. 

Initially he had said to himself that he would look into this in the morning as Angel had suggested, but frankly it was just because the spider wanted a night with Alastor all to himself, Alastor however, had his mind racing, and he wouldn’t be able to rest until he’d at least made a start of some progress. He finished getting dressed and quietly left the room. 

It was almost silent near the blast zone, except for the carrion that had already descended to feast on the corpses, they scattered at the radio demons approach. This left Alastor alone, next to the ruined building. He stepped carefully inside, the black scorch marks covered the floors and the ash had settled, there was a mangled mass of bodies intertwined and flash fried, clearly they were trying to flee arms and legs fused in grotesque shapes. Alastor had to step around them.

_ So they knew it was coming… they saw it.  _

He moved deeper into the ruin following the streaks of black and smoulder in reverse, he was hoping to find the epicentre. He was standing just before what was once the dance floor, it had buckled and sunk and clearly something more powerful had detonated here. There weren’t bodies here, just pieces of charred bone and building material. 

He found it, something had caught his gaze and he crouched down low, Alastor swept his hand across the ash to clear it off the floor, there was a section of the original dance floor relatively damage free. It was two small feet silhouettes. 

_ It was a creature… not a bomb. _

Standing up and moving onto the section of the floor, he slowly turned in place, eyeing up the surrounding devastation. It seemed to fit, everything was blown apart centred at this location. Alastor knew of no one that could harness that kind of power, he had made deals and pacts that granted him his powers, he didn’t know of any other moral soul that could do it. That left the demons, but all the overlords were known quantities and none of them fit.

It left Lucifer, but if Alastor was a betting creature, he would put money that Lucifer wasn't behind this, it wasn’t his methods, he was far more insidious and quiet. So something new, perhaps a new mortal soul had joined them or an ancient demon awoke. Alastor needed to find them and access the threat and take action if needed. 

***

Over the next few days, Alastor had started to put out the word through his contacts, he wanted information, anything to do with the mystery pyromaniac or anything that could relate. Any information would be rewarded with favours and to get into Alastor’s graces, this was motivation for many. They might be able to hide from his eyes, but from all the pairs of eyes that would give him the information? No chance.

He was eating breakfast with Angel when Vaggie had wandered down for some food, Angel couldn’t help but grin as Vaggie made a point to avoid eye contact with him.

“She just doesn’t want to say I was right. HEY TOOTS! Cherri says hello, what should I tell her?” He laughed as Vaggie went pink in the face and just stuck up her middle finger at him from across the room before storming out. 

“You enjoyed that didn’t you Angel?” Alastor took a sip of coffee whilst Angel continued laughing.

“Of course I did Smiles, Come on!” Alastor was interrupted by an imp clearing its throat next to him, he rotated round to regard the small creature, it presented a sealed envelope, Alastor was always secretly nervous accepting these, but he took it and the imp scurried off. Luckily the handwriting wasn’t the familiar cursive he was used to. He opened the letter and scanned the contents. A smile spread on his lips.

“What’s that?” Angel was trying to read it but couldn’t get a good look.

“A lead Angel, it’s a lead. I need to go, are you going to be okay?”

“Of course! When am I not? But watch yourself Smiles.” Alastor stood up and kissed Angel quickly on the cheek, it got a hum of appreciation from the porn star. 

“I’m never not careful.” He left leaving Angel to eat alone, he glanced at the radio demon leaving and couldn't help but worry. 

***

He was a skittering creature, nerves like a rat, looked like one too. Alastor was impatient, but he needed this information and scaring the creature might lead to forgetting important details. Anything could be useful, so he was being calm about the irritation it caused him. 

“Go on, what did you find.”

“Ah! Yes-yes. I found a corpse, burnt-crisp! Like you asked about.” 

“Was it part of the original fireball?

“No-No, it was in a different part-place of the city.” He seemed to twitch with nerves or excitement, it was hard to tell. 

“So what can you tell me about the body?” 

“Big-strong! But burnt-ruined! He had is dick-cock out!” 

“What?”

“Yes-yes, looked like he was killed whilst fuck-spawning.” 

“Anything else?” 

“No-no, everything else was taken-looted before I found him.” Alastor paused and tapped his fingers together. 

“You’ve done well, if you find anything else, let me know.”

“Yes-yes. Of course, I skitter-leap straight to you.” The rat abomination pelted away leaving Alastor alone. 

_ Perhaps a new succubus?  _

_ *** _

Charlie yawned and stretched as she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, It was early afternoon already, she had slept the entire morning away. It felt great not having to get up to do anything. Pulling off the heavy covers she padded out of the bed and headed straight to the bathroom, as she turned on the light she furrowed her brow, there was dried blood stained round her mouth and neck. 

“Need to do better at cleaning Charlie… don’t get sloppy!” She spoke to her reflection. The last couple of nights she had taken to hunting around the nightclubs visiting multiple in the same evenings, nothing as explosive as before, but then she also hadn’t taken any more cocaine. Her father was right she didn’t want to spend her days blowing up buildings, whilst the grand scale of the slaughter was impressive, Charlie had developed a liking for the more personal killing.

Men or women, she would bait one into attempting to bed her, sometimes if they impressed her enough or showed the correct respect she might just let them… most did not, arrogant, stupid creatures, she led them somewhere quieter, to their deaths. Usually tearing their throats out. It was quieter and not as bright as the inferno. Charlie was enjoying the intimate betrayal, the look on their eyes as they bled out. It had become a perverse obsession and Charlie enjoyed indulging it as much as she could.

She turned the tap on the bathtub and hot water poured into the large container filling it slowly. It was a raised bath with demonic clawed feet at each corner. Once it was filled she slid inside and let out a sigh as she floated in the hot and calming water. 

_ Relax… another couple tonight… more fools.  _

***

The days crawled on... when someone goes missing in hell, no one bats an eye. When a group goes missing… well, still no one cares. Alastor had started to ask the right questions however and was getting the information he needed. 

The explosion was a red herring, but it drew his attention. A dozen corpses maybe more, had started appearing… all of them had their throats torn out and none of them showed a sign of a struggle. Some were in varying states of undress, all of them handsome or seductive.

Alastor was tapping his chin as he thought out loud. 

“You’re a strange predator, aren’t you? Your victims aren’t fighting back… you lure them, not setting any more fires though… too conspicuous perhaps? These aren’t random locations, your pattern is plain to see. Time to get some bait.”

Putting a mark on a map to indicate a found corpse, they were dotted all over the city, but absolutely all of them were within an easy walk from a club, Alastor grinned he needed to call in another favour, and he also needed Angels advice.

***

Alastor and Angel were sat on the bed, it was quiet in his room, Angel didn’t know what was happening. 

“Would you say he’s attractive, Angel?” The spider furrowed his brow and look at Alastor quizzically before looking back at the other demon that had joined them in Alastor’s room, standing by the door. A tall auburn coloured demon with a striking face that looked a little nervous to be in front of the fabled radio demon. Of course he was attractive, he was positively gorgeous, the kind you would find on the cover of fashion magazines. 

“You want a threeso-” Alastor had almost expected the question and answered before Angel could finish.

“No.” Angel didn’t smile back.

“You’re not trying to replace me are you Smiles?” He tried to phrase it like a joke but his insecurities were wriggling through to the surface.

“No. Can you answer the question Angel? Would you say Tyrus here is attractive?” The demon fiddled around uncomfortably, he clearly didn’t like being spoken about and not to, but he wasn't speaking up. 

“Yeah he is Alastor, what’s this about?” Angel dismissive tone was trying to indicate his displeasure but Alastor turned to Tyrus instead.

“I have a job for you, if you complete it our debts are settled. Interested?” He seemed to startle the poor thing, but he shook his head vigorously.

“Yes sir, thank you.” Alastor stood up and started walking towards him.

“Take your top off.”

“What?” Both Angel and Tyrus said the same thing.

“Take it off, now.” He nodded and slipped his shirt off, Angel was feeling more uncomfortable and crossed his arms, of course he had a sculpted chest too, was Alastor just trying to make him jealous? 

Alastor moved behind and his finger flash red as he seemed to be inscribing something in the flesh of this demon’s back, it winced in pain. A few moments passed and Alastor stepped back to review his work. It looked like a tattoo.

“This will protect you for the task I need, I want you to go out to the nightclubs for the next few nights, dress to impress. Do not approach anyone, let them come to you if they proposition you, accept the offer. Do this every night until I tell you to stop, do you understand?”

“I think so, yes.” It was a strange request but if it cleared his debts with the radio demon he wouldn’t complain. Alastor turned his head in annoyance,

“Then why are you still here?”

“Oh! Sorry.” He quickly put his top back on and hurried out the door. Angel huffed again loudly getting Alastor’s attention.

“I wanted your opinion Angel, that’s why I asked you here, don’t you want me to value you?”

“That’s not it Smiles! You haven’t even told me why” He was pouting, Alastor rolled his eyes and sat back down next to him.

“Just part of a plan of mine, don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it when I can, deal?”

“... Deal.” 

***

If this was a job, it was the best job in the whole of hell! Tyrus had for the last few nights got himself dressed up, gone out and had a few drinks, and occasionally slept with a few creatures. Alastor hadn’t told him to stop so tonight was going to be another night. Checking himself over he made sure his hair was neat, his clothes were clean and crisp, he flashed a smile… nothing in his teeth.

“Alright hot stuff, time to kill it out there.” He wasn’t sure what had got into the radio demon to give him such an easy job, he had always feared for the day Alastor called in his favour. He wouldn’t have changed anything, he was in a bad state before, and Alastor’s deal was the only thing that had kept him alive. 

Picking a club for tonight, Tyrus paid for the taxi and waited to be let in. As soon as he stepped through the threshold the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he felt like he was being watched, glancing around he saw no-one, just the regular groups dancing, drinking and laughing. He shrugged it off and continued to the bar, getting a drink he took a sip and enjoyed the taste turning around he surveyed his surroundings and wondered if he would get approached by anyone tonight. 

Scanning from left to right, he looked around again, and that’s when he saw her. A pair of striking red eyes, yellow pupils glinting, eyes locked for a fraction of a second, before she had turned her head to the side looking away. Her lipstick was a dark shade of red and it made her lips look irresistible, their glossy sheen, almost inviting him for a taste.

He had to do a double take, her blonde hair was cascading down past a pair of white horns, down her back and across her bare shoulders, She was wearing a stunning black strapless cocktail dress, it was low cut and it seemed to draw the eyes straight to the beginning of her petite cleavage, and just past the top of her thighs smooth legs ran all the way down to the heeled shoes that were binding her feet. She exuded an aura of confidence and superiority even from the other side of the room, He had to make a conscious effort not make sure his jaw wasn’t hanging open.

“Fucking hells…” He shifted around uncomfortably, God he wanted to go up to her right now and talk to her, she clearly had seen him. Maybe he would have a chance with someone so elegant. It wasn’t his job, and looking back at her again, clearly he wasn’t the only one with that thought, it looked like a line was forming as people queued up to talk to her, she seemed to be listening intently and laughing softly, was it his imagination but did her eyes glance towards him again? He got up, needing to take a leak he went straight for the bathroom and let out a sigh as he relieved himself at a urinal. 

“What a looker…” Getting back, he decided to move himself to a seat, finding a space with an empty table he sat down, he looked back over and his heart sank a little, the blonde was gone. Probably already found herself company for the evening. Well at least he wasn’t going to have that distraction for the rest of evening, He reached for his glass before he realized that he never bought a new drink before finding a seat, he groaned and got up, glancing back he hoped his table would stay free whilst he got one, Rounding the corner he quickly got himself another glass and walked straight back. As he turned the corner he could see a body already at his table, it had already been taken, typical. 

“I saved you a seat.” Those intense red eyes were peering at him with some kind of strange curiosity. Tyrus froze in place. Holy shit! Was this his lucky day or what? He regained the use of his limbs and sat down opposite the enchanting demoness. She took a delicate sip from her cocktail glass. When she spoke it was soft and delicate.

“I saw you looking, earlier it’s rude to stare without saying hello, you know?” Was she teasing him?

“Uh Sorry, but it looked like you had enough company.” Her eyes seemed to twitch slightly. 

“An apology… that’s refreshing, I don’t care about any of others, they haven’t been able to keep my interest…” Tyrus swallowed hard.

“And what about me?” She smiled softly as her gaze continued to pierce through him.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet.” There was a small silence, Tyrus decided to try to keep the conversation going, he might not get someone like this again in his whole time of eternal damnation.

“What brings you out tonight?” That’s right, start off by getting her talking about herself and work with that.

“I want to have something someone else can give me.” Tyrus lowered his hands under the table, so he could fidget without being seen, to try to seem calmer than he felt. 

“Oh? What’s that.” He kept his voice steady as he spoke, thank god.

“Satisfaction…” Her breathy answer caused Tyrus’s own throat to constrict momentarily.

“Can… err I help, get you… satisfied?” The Blonde’s smile spread slowly across her face and her eyes lit up with amusement.

“Are you asking for permission, or was that a statement?” Her soft laugh made his cheeks flush red.

“I mean… err… I think I coul-” She had suddenly shifted positions and moved her chair round, so she was short distance away, she reached one of her delicate hands under the table and placed it on his.

“I’m only teasing… do you feel it? I think we have a connection.” Tyrus could only nod as she leant closer, when she spoke again the hairs on his arms had started to stand on end.

“Do you want to see how deep our connection goes?” Before he could answer she had already leant into a kiss. It was soft and it tasted almost as good as he imagined it would, but it was clear that she was kissing him, she was steering this ship forward and her rule was undisputed, he could only sit there and try to keep up. When they parted she still looked cool and collected, and just gazed at him with that sly smile across her lips. In comparison, Tyrus felt shaken, Hells that was a good kiss. This was looking more and more like the best night ever. 

“If I said I was tired of being around other people and just wanted you and me, somewhere private, would that interest you?” She was getting up, rather than doing the correct thing and saying yes straight away, he fumbled and asked something stupid instead.

“I haven’t even told my name.” She paused and looked down at him.

“Do I need to know it?” He gulped again at the intensity of her eyes, it was a silly question, and he shook his head. 

“No.” 

“Good, do you want to come with me?” 

“Yes please.” She laughed again

“So polite.”

She had taken his hand giving it a little squeeze the to of them left, his heart was racing, if this was about to happen he was going to try his best to please this lady. He had to keep his mind clear, he was terrified of getting too excited and blowing his load in the first ten seconds.

_ Grandma naked in a bath, Grandma naked in a bath. _

She turned to him when they had got outside.

“Can we get a hotel, I want this to last awhile…” Well holy shit.

“Of course, There’s that really big one nearby, looked nice I was there a couple of days ago the Hazb-”

“ **No!”** the sudden sternness of her exclamation surprised him, and she immediately softened her expression again. 

“I knew the owner, we didn’t get on.”

“You mean the princess?” She turned away from him and let go of his hand. 

“I hated her… It makes me a bad person, but I’m glad she’s gone.” He could feel her drifting away, he tried to salvage the situation as quickly as possible.

“Well that’s why we’re all down here, I know of a motel nearby, we could use that.” She seemed to perk up and grabbed his hand again.

“Lead the way.”

***

To say she was passionate would be to say that water is only a bit wet, as soon as they had entered the room that he had paid for she was all over him, tearing away his clothes and discarding her own, He had to pull away as she tried to grab at his member, he was already excited and was deathly afraid that feeling those soft delicate hands running along his shaft would cause him to lose it too quickly. 

Instead, he suggested that she lay down, and he would work his magic. This as it turns out was the right decision. She tasted as delicious as he imagined she might, and she grabbed his hair as he worked his tongue in and out of her. They were both getting sweaty as she climaxed straight into his face, she was totally into this, he clambered up before pressing himself inside her, it slid in with very little resistance, and she gasped, he hoisted up her legs and pressed them down by gripping both thighs hard as he thrust deep inside her. She was grinning and moaning loudly, revealing rows or razor sharp teeth… He had no idea she had kept them hidden.

Her chest heaved as she screamed out again, As all her muscles constricted she almost pushed him straight out of her, he had to wait a few moments before continuing. 

“Tell me…  **OH FUCK** … Tell me... when you’re close!” She gasped as he had let go of one of her thighs and used his fingers to play around her sensitive spot just above his thrusting actions. This was amazing, this was the best night ever, he tried to keep his mind clear as possible he wanted to show her the best time he could, maybe they could see each other again… that would be fucking incredible. He was grunting louder.

“I think… its happening soon.” She moved quick as a flash and pulled herself up and out of their current position. It caught him by surprise mid thrust.

“What?” She was panting but started to push him down on the bed.

“I need to be on top for the end…” He said nothing but lay down as asked, the momentum was lost slightly. She positioned herself over him and used a hand to help guide herself down onto her current partner. It was so wet and warm.

“Fuck…” He grunted out as her hips began to rock back and forth. There was a strange new intensity in her eyes as she stared down at him, it almost looked like she was trembling with anticipation as she moved back and forth. She leaned forward and started kissing around his neck.

“Are you going to cum for me? Tell me when…” He was way ahead of her and was starting to tense up, hearing her seductive voice was just driving him mad.

“Now! It’s going to be now!” He closed his eyes as the swelling inside the demoness grew, As his hips bucked and the first squirt came out, there was a gut wrenching wet tearing noise. His eyes snapped open. He was still climaxing, body now on automatic but why was the blonde covered in blood? Why was it dripping from her mouth? Was that his blood? He tried to gasp in some air but, nothing happened. Even as everything had started to go numb he could just about hear her scream out her own orgasm. There was a gargle as he tried to say something and everything just went black.

_ I thought Alastor said I would be protected _

Alastor lied. 

It took a good few minutes before Charlie felt the strength in her legs return, and she clambered off the bed.

“That… was… fucking amazing!” She was soaked in blood, semen and sweat. It was disgusting, well the blood didn’t bother her. She got up and headed straight to the bathroom and turned the shower on and got in, She was careful to avoid her clothes, she liked that dress and wanted to keep it clean. 

If she had stayed for a few more minutes she would have noticed the shadows that had begun to slip out from the back of her discarded lover, they twisted and turned in place before rising and forming a tall shape as the radio demon stepped into the room. 

“Found you,” 

  
  
  
  



	32. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor confronts the soul who has been preying on people. Then promptly deals with the consequences.

It was still where Alastor stood, the noise of the shower hammering away was drifting in from the next room over, the bloodied lifeless body lay limp on the bed, unmoving eyes staring up into the ceiling.

Alastor was of course willing to pay for results with another creatures' life, especially since it got him so close to his prize, he was fully alert as he stepped across the room. Eyes scanning everything surrounding him, he spotted the black discarded dress. There was the sound of distorted singing coming from the bathroom and Alastor’s ears pricked up. It sounded familiar…

He got to the bathroom door and gently pushed it open. Bewilderment then shock, then surprise before finally pain. It was Charlie, slightly different but much like when she unleashed her inner demon which very few had seen, but somehow more permanent. 

Charlie had her head tilted up letting the hot water wash the remaining blood from her face when she heard the creak. Eye opened she saw the radio demon, saw the surprise on his face. He certainly wasn’t expecting Charlie. She growled and bared her teeth, before pointing a finger directly at him, a great gout of flame rushed forward. Alastor was ready and had already blurred into shadow as he slid back into the room and around the corner, the fire caught the shadow briefly and moved passed into the room setting the bed on fire. 

Alastor reformed and had to gasp at the searing pain on his arm, looking down his suit was fine, but he knew that underneath his skin was blistered and scorched up his forearm. Charlie could burn him when he wasn’t even solid. It wasn’t regular fire at all. Alastor had made a mistake coming here, and had to try his best to play it calm, if Charlie didn’t know she could harm him maybe he could still turn this around. He called out,

“Apologies my dear, it was rude of me not to knock first.” He heard a laugh from the bathroom.

“Quit your fucking bullshit Alastor. Why are you here?” The shower had stopped, and he heard her get out of it.

“You piqued my curiosity after your stunt with that explosion.” He glanced over to the door and wondered if he could get there in time, probably not. 

“Unwanted attention…” Charlie spoke as if in a dreamlike state. Alastor was confused.

“What?”

“Something my dad told me, It would get me unwanted attention.” She was standing in the doorway and had wrapped a towel around her middle, she looked at the burning bed and sighed, with a flick of her wrist the fire all but died out leaving a smoking ruin and a charred husk of a body. 

_ That bed was comfortable, what a waste.  _

“Can you blame me, for wanting to investigate… So your father knows you’re alive?” She sneered at him.

“Where you always this stupid, or was I just naive? Of course he knows.”

“Does Vag-”

**“DON’T SAY HER FUCKING NAME!”** Charlie screamed out interrupting him and fire started to dance around her body, Alastor could feel the intense heat from where he stood. 

“Consider it done, I won't bring it up again.” Alastor doubted that Vaggie knew, and also wondered why Charlie was so adamant about not bringing her into conversation, would Vaggie have a better chance talking to her, or would she just become another victim? 

The flames died out again and Charlie started moving slowly towards him, eyes locked onto his. She was playing with him, she wanted him to run.

“For a long time Alastor, I didn’t get you… why you did the things you did, what you did to me…” Alastor wasn’t moving and didn’t say anything, Charlie had stopped in front of him, she brought up and placed her index finger and pressed down on his collarbone, it hissed and burnt through his suit before scalding the skin underneath. The radio demon kept his face under control and did not wince or move, Charlie was slowly rotating the finger and pressing it harder. Alastor could feel the burn spreading across the front of his shoulder. 

“I get it now… I enjoy it too, I’ve come to crave it in a way… Do you know how bad I want to kill you right now? How much I  **hate** you?” Alastor hissed as the finger got pressed deeper.

“I have some idea. So why don’t you?” Charlie paused before retracting her burning digit.

“Because my father is right about you, and if you weren’t here how many other creatures would take your place… how many other disgusting creatures would be running around?”

What had happened to Charlie? Its like all the hatred she had carried towards herself was being reflected outwards onto everyone else.

“Is there any messages you’d like me to pass onto the hotel?” Alastor was grateful she took a step back to look at him before sniggering.

“No… oh wait, yes actually. Tell them there’s no point and that they should give up. That should get a laugh.” 

“As you wish… Well Charlie it has been a pleasure but I think I must be going,” Alastor wanted to get to the door, hell he would take jumping out a window at this point.

“Are you going to tell  **her** ?” Charlie had gone unnaturally still as she waited for the answer.

“Do you want me to?” Alastor was careful to study her expression as she answered.

“I don’t care what you do.” Charlie posture and eyes told the exact opposite. It was still a gamble if that was a good idea. Poor Vaggie was in for a hell of a time if Alastor informed her that her dead girlfriend wasn’t dead and had become an unstable murderous pyromantic black widow-esque psycho. 

“You know you’ve ruined my evening buzz, I’m going to have to go out again, the next one is on you, I’ll be thinking about you when I do it… I won’t make it quick Alastor, they’ll suffer because of you.”

“I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you so much” 

_ Concerning _

He made a small movement that went unchallenged and moved closer to the door, leaving Charlie stood still just watching him like a caged predator. She called out.

“Oh and Alastor, you should really get your arm looked at… Don’t give me that look I can smell burnt flesh a mile away now… I’m used to it.” He didn’t respond, but opened the door and left. He moved just shy of a run to get out of the area before allowing himself a moment to lean up against and wall and let out a pained hiss. 

He couldn't move his burnt arm any more, and he could barely move that shoulder either, he would never be able to look after his wounds by himself, and there was only one person he trusted to help him.

_ Angel _

But Angel was working right now. That would mean Alastor would have to go to him. Did Charlie have this power inside her from the beginning, he could only imagine the horrors that she could unleash if she ever truly lost it. He staggered back up and started moving through the streets heading to a place he had always wanted to avoid… Valentino’s.

Charlie had finished drying her hair and just threw the towel onto the burnt bed, before starting to slide her clothes back on. Something about Alastor always set her on edge and the way he just tried to mention Vaggie… Disgusting.

She wasn’t in the mood for another conquest, so she planned to just bait someone before killing them. The thought of how slowly she planned on doing it got her insides squirming with delight.

“It’s going to be a long night.” 

***

Overlords were always suspicious of each other, this was to be expected of anyone with high standing in hell. However, Valentino and Alastor’s relationship could be viewed at best as neutral. Since Valentino’s main business was the selling of flesh Alastor didn’t even try to touch that market and as such there was never any real competition between them… Unlike Vox, that TV prick could go jump into a big pit of magnets for all Alastor cared. 

He always respected Valentino enough to leave Angel alone when he was working in case Valentino took offence to his ‘employee’ being taken away. So to see the spider now, would require Alastor to pay for it. This was going to be awful.

He staggered to the base of the porn studios that marked Valentino’s domain and pushed open the door. Everything was a dark velvet red. The receptionist looked up over their desk and looked surprised at Alastor’s arrival. The radio demon knew this information would make its way back to Valentino who would laugh at Alastor’s expense. Better to make it seem like he was being a romantic fool rather than seriously injured.

“How can I help you today  _ Sir? _ ” The mockery was high in the air already. Alastor sucked it up however.

“I would like to book some time with Angel Dust.”

“Hmm don’t you see enough of him already, we have plenty of others if you wanted to try some more variety?” It would take a lot more than that to get a rise out of him.

“No thank you, Angel will suffice.”

“Suite yourself, lets see here… ooooh, looks like Angel’s down for the VIP rooms all day today, you’ll have to buy the VIP experience, sorry!” They didn’t sound sorry at all, 

“Fine…” Well now he seemed desperate as well as lovesick, great… real good for his image. Alastor walked up, tried to move his arm and failed to do so, he ended up having to strangely manoeuvrer his other arm, so he could pay the stupidly high sum.

The reception bent down opened up a box and pulled out a bottle of Chilled champagne and two glasses.

“Thank you very much, if you’d like to follow me  _ sir _ .” They got up and moved down a hallway that was still dark red. Before opening a door and leading Alastor inside one of the ‘VIP’ rooms, they set down the glasses and with a loud pop opened the bottle and rested it next to them. 

“Enjoy your time, Angel will just be a moment.” They were gone, leaving Alastor alone in a room that made his skin crawl. A round bed with a mirror mounted in the ceiling above it, a jacuzzi bubbling away, shelves filled with ‘toys’ and a video camera!? Alastor looked away quickly, he didn’t need to think about that right now. He let out another gasp and clutched at his shoulder, the burning feeling was getting worse. 

“Really put my foot in it this time...ugh” He heard the door open so set his face to a neutral smile just in case. Angel had entered he looked dressed up and fabulous.

“Hey hot stuff, I hear someone wanted to party with An-” Angel was a good little actor, It had taken a while for Alastor to recognize when he was putting on a fake cheery tone and when he was actually happy, they were almost indistinguishable and part of the reason why Angel was so popular, he always seemed like he was into it, even if he wasn’t. He had stopped dead when he saw Alastor sat down.

“S-SMILES? What are you doing here? You can’t be here, I’ve got a client any second!” He quickly opened the door again to look both ways down the corridor.

“You need to go! Come on, the coast is clear.” Alastor cleared his throat.

“Angel I’m the client,” Angel paused and closed the door before turning back.

“What? You never visit me here. What's going on?” Alastor shifted slightly.

“It’s a long story but can you please help me take my shirt off, I’m having trouble with my arm.” Something flashed across Angels face as he moved quickly over, 

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know yet.” Angel started to carefully undo the buttons, he had seen the tiny finger shape burn near the top of the jacket, but the rest of him seemed fine. He slipped the jacket off easy earning a small hiss as it moved past Alastor’s limp arm.

When Angel undid the shirt buttons, Alastor could start to feel the breeze touching his skin underneath and knew that this was going to be bad. Angel opened the shirt slowly and gasped. His spare hands shot up over his mouth and his eyes went wide. 

“Fuckin’ hell…” On his left side almost half of his chest was blackened, skin was cracked revealing bloody crevasses underneath. It looked a lot worse than it felt, which didn’t fill Alastor with much confidence as he was pretty sure his arm felt worse than his chest looked. Angel’s hands were shaking, and he looked like he was going to cry.

“A-Alastor…”

“Please Angel, my sleeve next. This is going to hurt please don’t stop.” Angel could only nod as he gingerly slipped his shirt off and prepared to pull it off from his arm. As the fabric started to move he could already feel the tension and knew what had happened. Looks like a large section of his skin had melted and merged with the fibres of his shirt. He gritted his teeth, Angel was going to go too slowly, so as the spider started to lower the sleeve, Alastor pulled back hard and just ripped his arm free.

That was a new kind of pain, he could see the wet section of shirt where his skin was still attached and his arm bled furiously. He gasped in agony, Angel was on him almost immediately making sure he was steady. His arm looked almost completely ruined, large sections of skin were simply gone revealing cooked muscle underneath. Charlie had got him good. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, A-Alastor what do I do?” Angel looked panicked and couldn’t stop staring.

“We need to bind it. Can you get some bandages?” Angel nodded and shakily got up.

“Y-yeah, we got them just in case a client gets too violent… try not to move I’ll be back!” He basically ran out the door. 

_ She’s unstable and controls hellfire… I need to deal with this _

He had no idea how, he would never be able to get close enough and no one else had that sort of power, the only person he knew would have been Lucifer and asking him to reign in his daughter was probably the second stupidest thing to do, the first being sneaking into her room whilst she was showering.

“She has to stop herself…” 

Angel came back in suddenly with a couple of packs of bandages, he broke open the wrapping and moved quickly over.

“You need to make them tight, My body will do the rest okay?” 

“Sure…” 

The next few minutes Angel worked in silence as he wrapped up Alastor’s arm and over most of his chest, the only real noises were the gasps of pain as it got tighter. Once he was done Angel sat back and let out a long exhale.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

“I met the soul who blew up that club…”

  
  
  
  



	33. You Can't Just Tell Her.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor and Angel plan what to do next, Vaggie is getting a sense of confidence back... then it goes poorly.

“Are you crazy you can’t tell her!” Angel was wide-eyed, he had listened to Alastor explain who the mystery bomber was. He could hardly believe that Charlie would be capable of anything of the sort… or that she was alive for that matter, but he trusted that Alastor knew what he was talking about and wasn’t bat-shit crazy too.

“Why not? She’ll find out eventually, word will get around that Charlie is back, or she’ll see her in town some time. Better it be at a time when we can use it” Alastor had managed to get his shirt and jacket back on after his bandages were finished with, he knew this would take at least a week to heal up right and until then he would have to get others to do his dirty work, including his new idea that getting Vaggie after Charlie might nip the problem right in the bud.

“But Smiles! This is all so fucked! It’s gunna mess her up bad!” Angel didn’t like feel like Vaggie really deserved it, sure she could be a total bitch sometimes but that kinda aggravation grew on you, it was just who she was. 

“Well then, Angel what would you suggest I do?” Alastor hadn’t thought of any other alternatives but would be willing to listen if a better option was presented, he wasn’t that stuck up that he didn’t recognize other creatures ideas. 

“I don’t know! Can’t you just deal with Charlie?” Alastor was the strongest demon Angel knew why the hell was he so spooked that he wouldn’t take care of this himself.

“If I felt like I could have done I would have done it, she’s a bomb waiting to go off I couldn’t get close enough and survive.” He tried to move his arm as if to make a point and then winced and stopped. Angel reached out and steadied a hand on his elbow, 

“Don’t move it, and you think Vaggie will survive?” Angel’s expression softened at the thought. 

“I don’t know but it’s the only thing I can think of.” 

“That’s a hell of a gamble Smiles!”

“I know…” 

***

“Today’s the day… I’m going to do it!” Vaggie took a deep breath and glanced back at her reflection in the mirror. No more excuses and no more delays, she was going to go out today by herself, have a couple of drinks and just talk to someone new.

“Doesn’t need to be anything more than talking.” She was reassuring herself if anything, baby steps. She wanted to start moving on, Vaggie had got tired of spending all her time in her room or being dragged out as some kind of wobbly third wheel. There was a buzz as her phone went off in her pocket, picking it up she smiled. Cherri had been messaging her recently, Vaggie was almost certain Angel had given out her number.

**Hey Hot stuff, fancy partying tonight?**

Vaggie quickly sent off a reply.

**Sorry, busy tonight but if it turns out to be a bust I’ll call?**

The reply came quickly back.

**You’re missing out on this. XXX**

The photo came through moments later, Vaggie stared at the very ‘exposing’ photo Cherri had just sent. Shamelessly she saved it and put her phone back in her pocket, at least she had a back up plan if this all went south. Looking back up she saw that she was still smiling, it wasn’t forced or put on, how long had it been since she had smiled without having to think about smiling?

She couldn’t deny she had chemistry with Cherri Bomb, but she knew what kind of person Cherri was, soon she would lose interest with Vaggie or move on to something more exciting. Vaggie wasn't going to take it personally it was just who Cherri was. So she could at least enjoy a little time with her before that happened, all the better for her. 

She made sure she had her keys with her, checked to make sure her dress was straight and took a big breath in before leaving her room. 

“Showtime.” 

***

“I just don’t get it, you know? I’m trying to be by myself and people just want to get up in my business all the time!” She let out a hum as her neck and shoulders were being worked over by her favourite masseuse’s hands.

“Lots of people can be really insensitive.” her soft tones spoke out, Charlie had her head to one side and looked up at her. 

“Tell me about it, It stresses me out!” 

“I can feel that, lucky I'm here to melt all your stresses away.” Charlie giggled and closed her eyes dreamily as the massage continued.

“You certainly can…” 

***

“What do you mean she’s gone out! She never goes out!” Angel was waving his hands around in exasperation, how did he ever get roped into this? As much as he cared for the radio demon, Alastor sucked at interacting with others that wasn’t in a horrifying blackmail-y kind of way. So Angel had agreed to talk to Vaggie.

“Do you know where she went?” Husk shrugged,

“I’m not a fucking babysitter…” Angel put a palm to his face and pulled out his phone, and called Vaggie, no response. She was probably somewhere loud and couldn’t hear it. Angel sighed and his shoulders drooped. It would _probably_ be fine.

It wasn’t

*** 

Vaggie took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. She had turned her phone onto silent, so she wouldn’t distract herself. It was almost a test for her. 

“Okay, here we go.” She was standing outside a bar, there was music inside but it was quiet enough to promote conversation, It was half the reason why she chose it. There were groups of imps, demons and sinners all gathered together in groups or singles. She walked in, past a large gathering of sinners who seemed to be crowding around someone in the corner, she pitied that poor individual whoever they were, definitely had their work cut out for them to beat that lot back.

She didn’t need to dive right in, this was her evening, and she was going to take her time, No drugs this time apart from maybe a couple of beers. Vaggie ordered one from the barman and leant her back against the bar as she looked at all the people around. 

_Just a little bit of people watching to start, One step at a time Vaggie, you got this!_

She took a sip and put the bottle back down. Nothing had gone wrong yet, this was fine. There was a mixed group laughing with each other, maybe she could go and introduce herself. Lifted the bottle to her lips again as she mulled over the thought.

Then she heard it.

The bottle slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor, she didn't feel the beer spray up her legs she was concentrating on what she had just heard.

She hadn’t heard it for months but would have recognized it from a million miles away.

That laugh.

**Her** laugh.

It was instinctive, she started moving towards where she heard it from, there it was again! It wasn’t from a screen or speaker that was a real laugh coming from a real body. Vaggie couldn’t feel her arms or legs any more, everything seemed to be going numb she was standing about ten paces away from that large group by the entrance, they seemed to shuffle around, and she caught a glimpse at the demoness at the very centre of attention laughing at what must have been a recent joke. 

It was Charlie, no doubt about it. Wearing a very revealing black dress, Vaggie knew her with or without horns and red eyes… how was it Charlie. **How the fuck was it Charlie?**

Charlie was gone,

Charlie had killed herself,

Charlie was in a casket... 

Charlie… was… there.

She couldn’t move even if she wanted to, and her heart didn’t know what to do, it felt stuck. Then Charlie threw back her hair to laugh and flash a seductive smile at the nearest creature to her, when her eyes happened to flash across and met with Vaggie wide and quiet stare.

It was like a ripple of emotions spread from one side of Charlie’s face to the another. Her false smile and laugh got stuck in her throat then her face fell to a neutral position before finally twisting in what looked like a mixture of rage and disgust. In a fluid motion she had pushed firmly through the group much to their surprise and was fleeing straight out the door. 

Once Charlie had disappeared from view everything seemed to snap back into reality for Vaggie.

“... Charlie? **CHARLIE!** ” She could move again and ran as fast as she could out the door, looking left and right she couldn’t see her down any of the main streets, Charlie wasn’t that quick so Vaggie dived down the first side alley she saw and sprinted, she stumbled and picked herself up and continued. She rounded the corner not really looking where her feet were landing, Something was waiting just out of sight and Vaggie felt something slam into her throat and pin her straight to the wall, as her head slammed back her all she could see was stars.

As her vision cleared up Charlie’s red eyes were centimetres from her, Vaggie had to blink, no... it was real. She tried to speak but nothing happened, Charlie’s grip was strong and Vaggie couldn’t breathe. 

_Why are you doing this?_

Instinctively Vaggie reached up and was trying to prise Charlie’s hand from her throat but it was too tight, Charlie rammed her other hand down and was two handed choking Vaggie. She wasn’t saying anything but the way the corners of her mouth twitched, the way her whole body seemed to be trembling she might as well have been screaming at Vaggie at the top of her lungs. 

The edges of Vaggie’s vision had started to blur, she wasn’t looking away and was staring at Charlie’s face trying to understand… why was this happening. Her hands were going numb, she couldn’t grip onto Charlie’s hands any more, Vaggie’s arms started to fall limp by her side. She could just about feel the tears running down her face, everything was feeling distant and dizzy. 

There was a conflict forming across Charlie’s expression, she was looking more and more unstable, Vaggie’s lips were turning blue and her pupil had rolled up inside her skull and her legs had started to twitch.

“ **FUUUUUUUUUUCK!”** The voice echoed from somewhere and the pressure on Vaggie’s neck seemed to relent, and she slid straight down on the floor before gasping in some air and started to cough. The frustrated screaming continue and a foot impacted heavily into Vaggie’s stomach causing her to double down and cry out mid splutter. Vision still blurred she could see Charlie standing over her, she couldn’t make out her features, and could only hold out a shaky hand trying to get her to stop. 

Charlie seemed to pause before turning and started to walk away, Vaggie scrabbled around on the floor trying to stand but her legs weren’t cooperating, she called out but it was barely above her hoarse whisper, her throat had been severely bruised.

“...please...wait… Charlie! Please!” Charlie turned back and crouched down beside Vaggie. Vaggie was desperately trying to get her vision to clear up, she was blinking furiously but it was still jumbled colours. She did the only thing she could at the moment and wrapped her arms around Charlie’s crouched legs, trying to hold on as best she could. She had started to cough again and needed to stay with her.

There was a disgusted tutting noise and something heavy impacted straight into Vaggie’s head, it whip lashed her straight back into the solid floor and everything went black. 


	34. Hate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie finally gets to see her fallen Charlie.

When she regained consciousness Vaggie opened her eye and groaned, she lifted a hand to her face and felt the swelling, she had one hell of a black eye, swallowing hurt too, and moving her hand down she gently felt around her tender neck. She was surprised that she was back somewhere familiar. It was her old place… or at least what was left of it. What little remaining furniture had been smashed and blackened, scorch marks and holes were scattered everywhere, in fact the only place not touched by fire or damage was the bed Vaggie was laying on, it was clean. 

She tried to sit up and winced, Vaggie stomach was pretty badly bruised too, almost all of her hurt really, looking across the room her assailant, Charlie was still here. The blonde had leant her back up against the wall and sat down, shoulders hunched forward and had lowered her head so that locks of her golden hair were cascading down the front of her. Both hands were clutching her face and Vaggie could hear the soft sounds of sobbing.

Vaggie still didn’t know what was going on, and she could barely focus on anything, her heart was racing again and her stomach felt like it was caught in a hurricane. She wanted answers… She needed Charlie. Stepping up from the bed the floor creaked as blackened wood splintered underfoot, Charlie didn’t look up but spoke from behind her hands, it almost sounded like it was through gritted teeth.

“I couldn’t do it… I couldn’t do it! It should have been simple. How many times have I done it before?”

“... Charlie?” Her voice was still hoarse but Vaggie took a single step forward hand beginning to outstretch, she was shaking like a leaf. Charlie seemed to be ignoring her.

“I couldn’t even do it when you were knocked out… when you couldn't  **look at me** in that way you do! It should have been easy, I tried again and again… it should have been simple!” 

“Charlie…” Vaggie repeated herself and took another cautious step forwards, Charlie seemed to twitch.

“I never felt a thing for the others, all of them… they deserved it, it was easy! Why are you different? Why can’t I… when… you’re...  **YOU’RE JUST THE SAME AS THEM!** ” Charlie slammed a hand into the wall behind her and a pillar of flame shot up the wall scorching it again, more of the ceiling seemed to dislodge and pieces of debris showered down. She wrapped her arms around her knees and her red eyes were staring at Vaggie. You could almost feel a palpable aura of hatred.

Vaggie dropped to the floor, so she was on the same level as Charlie’s eyes, hand still outstretched towards her.

“Charlie… I don’t understand… how are y-?” Tears were running down her face again, even if she didn’t understand what was going on, hearing Charlie speak again, it was too much for her. This whole thing was like a strange dream, but Vaggie knew that this was real. Charlie interrupted and spoke with a cruel smile spreading wide.

“You want to know what the first thing I did when I came back?” Vaggie timidly shook her head.

“I went out and found the biggest, strongest guy I could and I let him fuck me as hard as he could in an alley, I didn’t even think about telling you I was back, IT DIDNT EVEN CROSS MY MIND!” 

“W-What?” A lump had settled in the pit of Vaggie’s stomach, Charlie seemed to be relishing her discomfort and continued.

“That’s only the beginning! All of them!” She pointed a clawed finger at the broken window. “They were all lining up to screw me, and I fucking let them! One after another!” 

“I… I…” Vaggie couldn’t keep eye contact and stared at the floor, Charlie’s eyes were gleaming with malicious intent. 

“Some of them were  **so** much better than you, I came so hard for them. It was almost laughable what  **you** did!” Vaggie’s mouth was opening and closing as silent words were forming Charlie stopped ranting and was eagerly anticipating what Vaggie was going to say. It was barely more than a whisper but Charlie could hear as if it was being shouted.

“I’m sorry.” Charlie exploded, this was not what she was expecting.

**“WHAT!?”** Vaggie had started shuffling on the floor getting closer to Charlie again, she still wasn’t look up and just moved on her hands and knees. Charlie could see the tears dripping onto the floor.

“I’m sorry I… wasn’t there for you…” A halo of flames was spreading around Charlie, her disbelief and anger were becoming irrational now. 

**“DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I WAS JUST SAYING?”** Charlie was scraping the floor with her nails as he hands dug into balled fists. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t see how bad it had gotten…” 

**“YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING SORRY!”**

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you in time…”

**“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HATE ME…”**

“I’m sorry that you thought you were a burden… you were never…”

**“YOU HAVE TO HATE ME! WHY WON’T YOU HATE ME?”**

“I could never hate you, ever!” Vaggie was close enough now that she could feel the intense heat coming off Charlie’s body.

**“W-WHY NOT?”**

“Because I love you!” Charlie had to shut her eyes as Vaggie finally looked up at her, that stare shone out looking straight at her.

Vaggie didn’t even hesitate and lunged forward and grabbed Charlie and pulled her into a strong embrace. The scalding hiss raced across her exposed skin.

“Vaggie, let go of me…” Charlie wasn’t shouting any more. 

“NO! I’m not letting you go!” The pain was almost unbearable, but she gripped tighter, she could feel her hair igniting. 

“P-please… let go of me, you’re burning.” Charlie’s voice had started for falter. 

“I WON’T!” Vaggie doubled down but still cried out in pain as she felt her skin blistering. There was a pause that seemed to last an eon, but the heat and flames died away leaving Vaggie shaking still holding on as best she could.

“Why would you do something so stupid Vaggie, look at what you’ve done to yourself…” Charlie’s hands were still pressed down on the floor. Vaggie was gasping her reply.

“I… needed… to show you… how much… you mean… to me!”

“Why would you sacrifice so much for me Vaggie? I’m just like everyone else now.”

“You’re... not, I had to die... to find my soulmate… you’ve been the best thing... that’s ever happened to me... When I lost you... I’d have given anything to be with you again… but there’s no afterlife from an afterlife…”

“I’m not the same Vaggie, I’ve got so much hate now.”

“We all do Charlie, I want to help you… if you’ll let me.” 

“I don’t know…” Vaggie pulled away slowly and Charlie looked at her, almost all of her exposed skin was burnt, it was horrifying, but she still was able to smile at Charlie, a guilty mass had formed in her stomach, how much pain was Vaggie willing to endure for her? She finally moved a hand up and touched Vaggie’s cheek, she winced but lifted her own burnt hand and kept Charlie’s hand in place.

“Well, I know a place… to help rehabilitate sinners… if you’re interested?” Charlie felt a weak smile twitch on her face.

“That’s supposed to be my line…” Vaggie bumped their heads together softly.

“I’ve been taking care of it for you…” 

“I don’t know Vaggie, I need to think… I don’t… any... more.”

“Charlie? Would you promise to let me know your decision? I’ll respect it, no matter what.” Charlie pulled her hand away and stood up leaving the burnt Vaggie on the floor still,

“Fine… okay, I’ll tell you… I promise.” Charlie moved towards the doorway and turned her head to look back at Vaggie as she lay collapsed on the floor, there was a flash of worry before it steeled over to a neutral expression again and Charlie was gone. 

Vaggie tried to stand up but had to lean on the wall to steady herself, the weight applied to her burns made her gasp out in pain, she wanted to cry but nothing happened, she wondered if her tear ducts and been seared. She limped to her bathroom before turning on the cold water in the bath, her clothes didn’t really come off more like the crisped off. She was going to call someone but her phone had been melted, how many had she gone through this year? Vaggie slid into the cold water and screamed out, she didn’t turn the tap off, it was going to overflow but this whole placed was already ruined, the reddening water splashed down onto the floor.

“Charlie, I won’t give up on you!” She still had so many questions but Charlie was clearly suffering with something, so they would have to wait. Vaggie would help her or she would die trying. 

***

“THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!” Charlie was pacing around back in her palace room.

“She comes swanning in! And I just want to forgive her! SHE SHOULD BE DEAD! FUUUUCK!”

She was squeezing her hands tightly again and could still feel soot and ash in her palms, she let out a ragged sigh and moved to her bathroom and washed them, looking up she almost jumped away from the mirror. Charlie was standing in the reflection with her arms crossed, no fangs, no horns, no claws and her eyes were back to their soft hues.

“Having fun Broken?” It spoke softly out.

“SHUT UP! I’m not Broken any more! I’m exactly what hell made me!”

“Oh I’m sure, all these walls you’ve raised around yourself. They’re definitely keeping you isolated from everyone else… except the foundations are…  _ Breaking. _ ” 

“AAAAGH!” Charlie slammed a fist straight into the mirror and it shattered, pieces falling to the floor. Looking down it was back to horned Charlie’s reflection.

“Stay away from me!” There wasn’t a response this time and Charlie moved back into her room uncaring that her hand was dripping spots of blood onto the floor. She sat down on her bed and let herself fall backwards. 

So Vaggie knows, well it was going to happen at some point. Her dedication alarmed Charlie. 

“She’s not going to leave me alone now… Why couldn’t I just kill her… then I could go back to relaxing… fucking stress.” 

She thought that maybe she should just get it over with, turn up at the hotel fuck it up and say at least she tried and Vaggie could leave her alone after that, It sounded simple but why did it leave such a large amount of worry coiling inside her. 

“Fuck it! I’m getting another massage and then I’ll deal with this shit.” 

***

“What the fuck? Did you go skinny dipping in fucking lava?” Husk was staring, Vaggie had managed to get back to the hotel, lucky there was a taxi place near her old haunt, so staggered over there as she was unable to call for one she had been driven back. She couldn’t put on her old clothes they had almost completely disintegrated when she went back to them, so she had to wrap her body with several towels, it was embarrassing but better than the alternative. 

“Something like that… I need a new key, mine’s melted” She was hissing with pain, moving caused her cracked skin to rub together, small rivulets of blood criss-crossed her body.

“Uh sure.” Husk reached down before sliding over a new key.

“Angel was looking for you, it sounded important… should I let him know you’re back, or do you want…” Vaggie grabbed the key and slid it towards herself.

“Its fine... just give me a few minutes to get to my room, I’m not really quick at the moment.” She let out another gasp as she moved off. Husk watched her go…

“The fuck is with this place…” 

*** 

Vaggie had got back into her room and just let the towels encasing her drop to the floor, the inside of them were stained badly. She gritted her teeth against the continuous pain and tried to see where it was worst, it was all bad.

_ Hope it doesn’t scar too badly. _

There was a knock at the door, Vaggie looked down at the towels, she really didn’t want to have to bend down if it was going to cause her such pain.

“Angel… Is that you?”

“Yeah toots, Look I need to talk to you okay? It’s important.”

“Me too, Are you alone out there?”

“What? Yeah, why?”

She moved over and opened the door, so he could come in, he took one look at her naked burnt body.

“OH FUCKIN’ HELL, NOT AGAIN!”

  
  



	35. Check In for One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie comes to her decision after much berating. Vaggie tries to get Alastor to understand her choices.

_ “What are you smiling about Hun?” _

_ “Oh nothing, just how lucky I got to be with you” _

_ “I’m the lucky one, I get to see that smile every day”  _

_ “Vaggie… you mean the world to me.” _

_ “... I love you…” _

Vaggie woke to another bout of intense agony and cried out, her skin was trying to mend itself but it was going to take weeks before it would stop causing her pains. She blinked the tears away.

_ Was that a dream, or a memory? _

She could only get a few hours rest in at a time before she would move in the wrong way and wake up, It didn’t help that the times she would get sleep it was always plagued by dreams of Charlie, she would call them nightmares, but they were of happy moments the two of them shared, the sorrow would only catch up once she awoke. 

It had been a couple of days since she and Charlie had spoke, the princess hadn’t visited or called yet and no one else had seen her, Vaggie was getting worried even though Charlie promised, but nowadays what was her word worth? Vaggie shook her head, she refused to believe that Charlie would have changed that much. 

Maybe it was a fools hope, but if Charlie could come back after being gone for so long, Vaggie truly believed that anything was possible, after all… she didn’t have anything else to believe in. Groaning she managed to get into a sitting position and reached over to grasp the cup of water next to her bed, she almost dropped it and griping tighter hurt. 

She picked up her phone next and noticed that she had a message dated a few hours ago, Angel was checking in asking if she was okay. Vaggie carefully typed back a response that she was going to try to get some more rest, and he shouldn’t worry so much.

**But if I’m lookin after Smiles, who’s gunna look after you?**

Vaggie didn’t need anyone else, she could do perfectly fine by herself, everything just took a little longer, that was all. Plus there was only one person she would want to be with now… and it looks like that person wanted nothing more to do with her.

***

“You promised you would at least tell her. But I think you should stay it would be good for you.” 

Charlie screwed her eyes shut tight as she lay on her bed, how long had these arguments being going on for? Endlessly round and round inside her skull. 

“Leave me alone…” 

She was using her arm to cover over her eyes, she was getting a headache.

“Not until you follow up on your promises.”

The other voice always spoke calmly and clearly, it didn’t raise its volume to shout and it was driving Charlie mad. 

“I don’t have to do shit for you!” 

“That’s right you don’t, but I’m not going to quieten down until you do.” 

“How can I even trust that you’ll shut up if I do go?”

“Are you really asking me that? Surely you know the answer…” 

“Fine, I’ll do it just to make you shut up… but I’m not going to change anything there! I’ll still go out and I’ll bring them back to the hotel! I’ll make  **her** listen to it!”

“Why can’t you say Vaggie’s name?”

Charlie tensed and was bearing her fangs as she moved her hand away from her eyes to stare angrily at the ceiling. 

**“DON’T FUCKING SAY IT!”**

“You didn’t have any problem saying it when she was burning on you…” 

She froze up, and her heart rate fluctuated it was uncomfortable thinking about the answer.

“I-I don’t know what came over me, I just had a funny moment that’s all… a shitty moment of weakness.”

“I think we both know that’s not true. You know the real reason is-”

**“DON’T SAY IT!... DON’T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!”**

“What are you so afraid of Broken?”

“Nothing, I’m not afraid of anything! And I've told you to stop calling me that!” 

“Then why were you so obsessed with getting Vaggie to hate you? Before, talking about all the sexual encounters, and just now wanting her to listen. What’s that about?”

“I told you not to say her name! I’ve got nothing more to say to you…” 

“Fine, I’ll see you at the hotel then.” 

Charlie rolled over and got up, slowly moving over she grabbed the carry all from the bottom of her wardrobe, everything was brand new since she scorched her old room, she had bought an entire new range of clothes, most of which would be best described as revealing or closer to what might as well be lingerie in dress form. She grabbed a handful of choice outfits and packed them. A twisted smile crept, she had already put aside the argument with that voice in her head, if Vaggie was so insistent that Charlie come to the hotel, she would torment her as much as demonly possible, then when she gets asked to leave, Charlie can go back to having fun again. 

***

“I don’t think that was an advisable course of action my dear.” Alastor was pacing around his room, his arm was in a sling, and he was just walking circles around his room, Vaggie was sat in a chair opposite him, she found it difficult standing for too long and had eased herself into the seat as soon as she was let in. 

Alastor thought that she still looked like a mess and her hair was considerably shorter now, only past her shoulders not the full length mane that she used to sport. He didn’t feel guilty, at least she was still moving, the same couldn’t be said for him if he tried the same manoeuvre with Charlie. 

Vaggie however was doing better than Alastor in one regard, she was still out and about, still working. No one cared if she had been maimed in a fight, Alastor had an image to protect and to be seen as weak was to invite competition. He had already received one ‘get well soon’ card from Valentino, that smarmy prick clearly had seen what had happened. Probably a hidden camera somewhere. Whilst no threats were made it was enough of a worry that kept Alastor inside his room until he was fighting fit again.

“I couldn’t leave her, you know that! Hell only knows what she’s been through!” Alastor rolled his eyes at Vaggie who was getting more frustrated an animated at his apparent lack of empathy. 

“It’s not that simple, I think you’re letting your emotions rule over better judgements!” Vaggie shouted straight back at him, which simply validated his opinion.

“OF COURSE I AM! How could I not? I still love her!” The last line sat heavy in Alastor’s stomach, Vaggie was deluded in thinking that this would work out the way she hoped. 

“I don’t mean to be the bearer of such morbid news, but she quite simply is not the same person.” Vaggie just stared at him in disbelief, she threw her arms out wide. 

“How can you say that!? She’s just hurt and angry!”

“Do you know how many souls she’s slaughtered? Before you say anything, I am not being dramatic, it was slaughter, none of them stood a chance.” Vaggie flinched, but continued to look resolute,

“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, the old Charlie is in there, I know it! She couldn’t kill me!” Alastor scoffed and indicated with his free hand all around Vaggie.

“I think she gave it a good attempt, look at yourself!” Vaggie had to take a moment to look at her own burnt arms before shaking her head and dismissing him. 

“It’s nothing that won’t heal! I don’t know why we’re even discussing it, I’ve already invited her, if she comes that’s that!”

“Your stubbornness seems to be a trait you share with Charlie, very well but know that I won’t be interacting with her at all, she has made her thoughts on me perfectly clear, she’s going to be your responsibility.”

“I know.” Alastor sighed, he clearly wasn’t going to get through to Vaggie. 

“Listen, this thing you’re doing… it’s admirable, in a foolhardy sort of way… just don’t expect miracles.”

“Charlie’s back… that’s one miracle, is another one that hard to believe in?” Alastor was about to respond but Vaggie’s phone had started to ring. She picked it out the pocket it rested in and answered.

“Hello?... When did she arrive?... Okay I’ll be down in a few minutes.” She hung up.

“Charlie’s here…”

***

It felt familiar, well of course it did… it was Charlie’s hotel but standing in the foyer made her feel awkward, she knew she didn’t belong here. This whole thing just screamed at her failures… her failed ideas, her failed business… her failed dreams.

She was leaning up against a blank section of wall, her bag resting by her feet, she was tapping her foot as she waited. She could see that Husk was glancing in her direction after making a call, but he refused to say anything else, she wondered how much he knew. 

“Not that it fucking matters…” This whole place had her on edge, and she couldn’t wait for this to be over. Her hands tugged on the red mini skirt she was wearing that was riding a little high, and her tiny black top showed off most of her navel and a large section of her neck in a wide V shape, her pale skin was clearly on show. She had baited the hook and was just waiting for the right catch. 

There was a small noise as Vaggie walked into the foyer, Charlie’s stomach turned for a moment she still looked like she was in so much pain, but she was wearing a smile walking towards her. She forced those emotions to one side, Charlie was tired of having to ride the helter-skelter of emotions when dealing the grey skinned soul. 

“Have you decided to stay for a bit?” Vaggie was looking down at the bag, Charlie rolled her eyes.

“Don’t read too much into it, This way I can get you to stop bothering me sooner, nothing else.” Vaggie forced the smile away and nodded.

“O-Okay, Can I show you to where you’ll be staying?” Charlie felt like she didn’t really have any other option.

“... Fine.” 

Vaggie went behind the desk got the room key and started leading Charlie away, they walked in complete silence, it was awkward… incredibly awkward. After an age they arrived, Charlie knew this was only a couple of corridors away from their old room and assumed Vaggie was still staying there, was she putting her here just to be closer?

“Charlie? C-can I ask you something?”

“No.” She moved past Vaggie, swiped the key from her hand and promptly shut the door and locked it. She leant her back against the door and let out a large sigh as she dropped the bag on the floor, she could hear that Vaggie hadn’t moved away yet. 

“... What is it?” Vaggie’s muffled response came back through the door. 

“What was it like Charlie?” Charlie closed her eyes, she knew this would be asked at some point at least she didn’t have to look at her, she could just pretend she was talking to no one.

“I was… still here, I couldn’t hear anyone or interact with anything…”

“That sounds horrible.”

“... I followed… you... for a long time.”

“Oh Charlie…”

“I’m going to unpack… then I’m going out, don’t expect me back until tomorrow.” She moved quickly away from the door, she didn’t want to hear Vaggie’s reply or if she was even there. 


	36. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie acts cruelly and gets a talking to, Alastor gets an invitation.

Charlie was down another alleyway… she enjoyed how nobody seemed to care that souls were getting eradicated down them, no one ever mentioned that it wasn’t safe… idiots. 

“Fuck, fuck!… Just wait a second, will you!?” Charlie had to place one hand on her new partners hips to get him to stop trying to fuck her, her skirt had been pushed up revealing the top of her thighs that he was grabbing at and trying to pull her closer to his dick.

“But baby, how can I when you’re so fuckin’ hot!” She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t try that shit with me, now be a good boy and wait, then you can have your treat!” He paused, without the extra interruption Charlie was able to easily pull out her phone from her tiny bag that she had with her. Her heart was pounding as she dialled the number and placed the phone next to her. 

“You kinky bitch!” Charlie sighed again, this guy was awful at talking.

“Just fucking get going already.” Well he didn’t need telling twice and hungrily started pulling at her again before she could hear the phone next to her and started grinning.

**“Leave a message at the tone, unless you’re trying to sell me something, then you can fuck off.”** Vaggie’s voicemail cut off with a beep. The sex was at best a four out of ten, Charlie had been too hasty grabbing someone off a dance floor, However knowing that Vaggie would be crushed to hear it at least pushed it to a seven. Normally she hated when they talked but this time she was glad he was so vocal, she still wasn’t listening to him and concentrated at making as many over the top moans as possible, eyes darting to the phone now and then just making sure that the call was still live. 

This time she wanted a screamer, so finishing up by she set his skin alight, she didn’t stop moaning and screaming herself until he was good and still, and extinguishing the flames she leant over and ended the call.

“...Shit… That’s fun.”

***

Vaggie was curled up on her side, she was shaking as she wept loudly tears streaming down straight onto her pillow. She had woken up after another dream and checked her phone to find a voicemail, it was like a stake being pushed slowly through her heart.

“C-Charlie… w-w-why…” 

It was worse than she could have ever imagined, the grunts and Charlie’s accompanying moans, this wasn’t a pocket dial, the sounds were crystal clear, not muffled. Vaggie had to listen to Charlie climax, she knew it wasn’t faked she still remembered what it was like to be with her and it hurt to hear Charlie with someone else.

_ Why are you being so cruel… do you hate me that much? _

When finally the screaming started Vaggie had just pressed delete, she didn’t need to hear any more. She had Charlie’s new number now, she wanted to call back, to cry to her… ask her why she was being the way she was, why she thought Vaggie deserved it?

Instead, she had just saved her number as a new contact and pushed her phone off the bed and started to cry. Jealousy and envy made for ugly tears, but Vaggie couldn’t help but feel it. They had never really ended their relationship, and Vaggie had slept with Cherri that time, but now Charlie was back it almost felt like they should just be together again. 

_ Why did things have to change? _

***

It was already dawn when Charlie managed to stagger back to the hotel after a heavy night of drinking after her physical exploits. She didn’t even care that her skirt was still half hitched up, She had a new number in her phone, she met a very energetic wolf lady and wouldn't mind another go with her. Moving back to ‘her’ room she saw Vaggie talking to Husk, their eyes met and Vaggie quickly averted her gaze. It looked like she hadn’t slept very well, Charlie on the other hand was expecting to sleep like a baby soon. 

_ Perfect. _

She was almost at the door when she heard the hurried footsteps and her name being called, she shuddered.

“Charlie! Wait! Can we talk?” Vaggie had clearly found some courage. Charlie wasn’t in the mood.

“No.” She opened the door and locked it immediately before collapsing on her bed and wrapping the sheets around herself. She still heard the whispers on the other side of the door.

“... Please.” Charlie ignored her. 

_ It was still worth it… I think? _

***

It was noon when Charlie woke back up blinking bleary eyes open, her head hurt but other than that it was just a normal lie in. Checking her phone to see if she had any messages from that nice lady, the only message was from Vaggie. She groaned and opened it.

**Why did you send me that?**

Charlie let out smirk and quickly typed back a response.

**_Why? Didn’t you like it? I was thinking of you ;)_ **

She went to put her phone down but it was already buzzing with a response, clearly Vaggie was just sat by her phone, did she not have anything better to do?

**No, it was cruel.**

**_Guess I’m cruel then… whoops :D_ **

**No you’re not, do you blame me?**

Charlie had lost interest in the game and just put her phone back down without sending a response. It buzzed a few more times after but then fell silent. She rose out of bed and headed to shower off the nights exploits. Stripping the remainder of her clothes she got in the shower and turned it on.

“You’re being vindictive you know?” Charlie groaned.

“I thought you said you would be quiet if I was here.”

“I’m not going to start an argument with you, I’m just voicing my opinion.”

“Which will lead to an argument, but since I can’t seem to shut you up… fine  **do tell,** why am I being  **sooo** vindictive?” The venom in her words was evident, Charlie was getting tired of having more than one voice rattle around in her head, she thought she had sorted that… Apparently not. 

“Why are you treating Vaggie this way? She doesn’t deserve it.”

“What do I keep saying about using her name! And because it’s fun, because she’s just like ever other sinner down here, a liar!”

“Okay, firstly we lied too, plenty of times so what does that make us?” 

“Just the same I’m not pretending to be different, I’m just stronger… I deserve to be on top of the pile.” 

“I won’t even begin to go into that little chestnut of disgusting revelations. Secondly Vaggie is simply not the same as everyone else, that is a bare faced lie and you know it.” 

“Yes she is! After all that shit about drugs, and she just folds like the rest of them!”

“How petty are you? I mean really. She does something once, and you cast her out and treat her like this? Let me ask you this… How many times was she there for us? No one else was, just her. How many times would she know what to say to cheer us up? No one else did, just her.”

“... shut up.” 

“Because the truth hurts?”

“I said shut up.”

“Because you’re broken?”

**“SHUT UP!”** Charlie slammed her head into the wall of the shower and the tiles cracked under the impact. There was silence again apart from the pouring of the shower and Charlie’s own unsteady breathing. She had to blink a few times, even though her face was already wet she could feel tears, she didn’t know how long she’d been crying. 

***

When it didn’t rain, it poured. Alastor knew it was coming at some point but did it have to be so soon. He turned the envelope over in his good hand again, reading it for the second time its contents hadn’t magically changed.

_ Shame. _

**Alastor**

**I’m throwing a little get together, If you’re well enough I would be love it if you could attend, I feel like we could talk some business to both of our benefit.**

**Of course drinks and entertainment are free, I hear you have a particular preference with one of my employees, don’t worry Angel Dust will be there. It would be a shame if someone else got to him first.**

**First come, first served.**

**< 3 <3 <3 Valentino <3 <3 <3**

“What a wonderful turn of events.” Alastor might have been speaking to himself but it was still loaded with sarcasm. Valentino was both testing and taunting him. It was blatant. Well Alastor didn’t have much of a choice, he tested his arm again, it still hurt. He would have to wrap it again and just be careful, there was no way he would be wearing the sling. 

Now he would have to find out when this was, Valentino didn’t include the date or time, so he would have to ask Angel. He felt like he was being played and didn’t enjoy it, but it would be worse if he failed to attend, for him and Angel both. 

***

Charlie’s hands were shaking, why were they shaking? This wasn’t supposed to be scary or nervous, she steadied her breathing, closed her eyes and pressed send on the message waiting on her phone. 

“Done… fuck it.” She put her phone back down and sat on her bed. It only took a few minutes before there was a gentle knock at her door. She didn’t get up, the knock came again.

“C-Charlie? I’m here, you wanted to talk?” Vaggie already sounded upset on the other side of the door.

“... Yeah.” There was a pause.

“Are you going to let me in?”

“No.” Charlie couldn’t look at her right now.

“Oh…” A silence settled between the two of them, either side of the door. Charlie fidgeted with her hair and ended up playing around with the base of her horns. Vaggie spoke first and the vulnerability in her voice was heart wrenching. 

“D-Do you blame me? For y-your…”

“No.”

“B-But if I was quicker, m-maybe I could have-” She was cut off by Charlie, a steely sternness in her voice. 

“It wouldn’t have mattered, I wasn’t listening at the time, I don’t think about it… you shouldn’t either.”

“How can you say that so easily Charlie? It was all I could think about.” Vaggie’s voice was breaking

“That was stupid wasn’t it?” 

“W-well you weren’t around to tell me to stop…” Charlie could hear her crying, Vaggie sniffed loudly. 

“D-Do you h-hate me?” Charlie paused for so long without answering Vaggie spoke again.

“C-Charlie?” It snapped Charlie’s focus again, and she responded this time. 

“I don’t hate you...” There was a soft breath from the other side of the door. 

“B-But you don’t love me, do you?” Charlie heart clenched.

“... S-Stop talking.”

“W-Why won’t you let me in?” Charlie’s response became more frantic

“Please stop talking.” Vaggie fell silent and just waited, her head was leaning against the door and her arms were gently holding the door handle to help support her.

“...”

“I saw you with Cherri…” Vaggie’s eye went wide.

“Oh… Is that why you sent me that recording?” Charlie screwed her eyes shut and tried to steady her breathing. 

“What? No! I wanted you move on… I wanted you to be happy! You were supposed to find someone better than me, but you didn’t! You... you…  **YOU JUST SANK DOWN WITH THE REST OF THEM!** ” The shout at the end even surprised Charlie and her breathing was coming quick and fast. 

“Charlie, what are you on about? I could never find anyone better than you… I told you before, You’re my soul mate… I knew as soon as you were gone, I would never find another that would be better for me than you were!” Vaggie’s voice was building from her quiet whisper as she found she was getting more and more passionate. 

“I never thought I would be happy again Charlie, and Cherri just offered something that would take my mind off it for just a bit. So yeah, I made a mistake, but you know what? I was so tired of feeling like nothing mattered any more!”

Vaggie had to lean back away from the door as she heard footsteps approaching and the door swung inwards as it opened. Charlie was standing in the doorway and was staring straight at Vaggie with a strange intensity. One red eye and one perfectly normal yellow eye with a black pupil staring at her, Vaggie didn’t know what to say. Charlie blinked and it had gone back to two red eyes again. 

They both stood in silence and the moment seemed to drag out, Charlie had started to slowly raise her hand, it was shaking. Vaggie stood stock still and as the blonde’s hand reached her face it looked like she wanted to cradle her cheek. Vaggie held her breath and Charlie stopped moving before she finally retracted the hand took a step back and just shut the door.

“I’m done talking.” Charlie moved away from the door and lay down on her bed. 


	37. The Party Starts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie needs to calm down, Alastor gets to go to a party.

_The kiss was gentle and tender, as they parted, both were breathing heavily. Charlie’s pale cheeks were flushed pink. She used a hand to tuck a few locks of her blonde hair behind her ear._

_“That… erm, that was…”_

_Vaggie tilted her head back towards her and their lips met once more. Their first kiss was perfect and the second was just as good._

Charlie’s eyes snapped open, her lips were tingling, and she placed fingertips to gingerly touch them. It was a Vivid dream. She sat up noticing how the sheets were stuck to her sweaty form. 

“Fuck was that about?” Charlie rubbed her eyes free from sleep. An awkwardly familiar voice answered,

“Looks like when Vaggie kissed us for the first time, remember?” Charlie was already feeling annoyance rising in her guts.

“I know **what** it was, but why did I dream about it?” 

“Because Vaggie is constantly on your mind, you mean the world to her.” Charlie rolled her eyes.

“You’re going to make me puke…” There was a pause before the voice inside her skull spoke out quietly.

“Huh…” 

“Oh, out with it!” Charlie snapped back.

“You haven’t shouted about me using Vaggie’s name.” The blonde paused before speaking out a little faster than she intended. 

“Well I can’t stop you from saying it, can I?” The return comment was snide. 

“Never stopped you from trying before.” Charlie was getting irritated. 

“What do you want from me?”

“An honest moment where you realize what Vaggie means to you.” Charlie’s heart had started to beat faster, and she was getting uncomfortable where she sat, Charlie quickly ripped the sheets off her body, for some reason they were bothering her a little too much. 

“She doesn’t mean anything to me!” 

“Then go ahead and kill her like you keep saying you want to... but you can’t, can you?”

“Don’t fucking tempt me.” It meant to sound like a threat but it was too insecure. 

“I’m not tempting you, I’m telling you… go do it.”

“I, I don’t want to right now.”

“How weak are you excuses getting?”

“Please leave me alone.” Charlie was gripping her scalp hard she could feel talons slowly digging in. The voice tried a more soothing approach.

“You should cry, it will help.”

“What? I’m not just going start weeping because you fucking tell me to!”

“You’re dealing with too much, you’re falling apart… I’m serious, go see Vaggie and just let it out.”

“Fuck off, **I’m serious** just fuck off!”

“... Fine.” Charlie was surrounded by silence once more, she could hear her breathing and feel her heart hammering in her chest, the dragging noise of her fingers scrapping down her head. She didn’t need to cry, she just needed to relax. She got out of the bed and was going to have a shower before getting dressed. 

“I’ll just get some stuff to take my mind off all this shit.”

Just a quick a trip out, and then she could just enjoy the rest of the day in peace and quiet.

***

There was a gentle knock on the door. 

“Charlie, are you in there?” Vaggie was standing in the hallway again, why did she seem to spend so much time here. She knocked again.

“Charlie… I’m going to let myself in. No one’s seen you and I need to check on any AWOL guests… this is just procedure okay?” She put the master key in the door and opened it a tiny amount. She listened out and couldn't hear the shower running, before sticking her head around the door she called out again.

“Charlie, are you here?” Still no response, nothing. She poked her head round the door, Charlie was slumped in a chair, head lolling to one side, it looked like she was sleeping. Vaggie smiled briefly and was about to close the door leaving her alone, until she had noticed that Charlie’s sleeve had been rolled up and there was a small item lying on the floor underneath her other hand. 

Vaggie paused, then entered the room shutting the door quietly behind her. Charlie had a small piece of cord that was tied tightly on her exposed bicep,

“... Oh, Charlie…” Vaggie looked on sadly and bent down and picked up the discarded syringe. It was empty, no trace of whatever was in there remained, Vaggie reached a hand out and made sure that Charlie was still breathing and checked her heart rate, it was very slow, but at least it was steady. She moved away and placed the syringe down on top of her dresser and went back to Charlie, she wore a relaxed expression as if nothing was wrong in the world. Vaggie reached up and took the binding around her arm and rolled down her sleeve, her fingers passed by the puncture wound on the vein Charlie had clearly pumped this stuff into. 

She grabbed an arm under Charlie’s torso and lifted the Blonde up, her head bobbed and drooped down, Vaggie groaned as she counterbalanced Charlie’s weight and it made her burnt skin hurt as they were being pressed up against. She carefully manoeuvred Charlie onto the bed before arranging her into a recovery position to help with her breathing and to make sure she didn’t swallow her tongue. 

Charlie looked so peaceful and Vaggie had to take a minute just to look at her, she wasn’t planning on berating Charlie for this or even bring it up, Vaggie couldn’t bring herself to get angry about it, even if it was a clear violation of the terms of the hotel that both Vaggie and Charlie had set up. 

“I hope that none of the other guests find out about this.” She gave Charlie a tender kiss on the forehead before collecting the syringe and leaving the room.

“At least you’re still here.” 

***

Alastor walked alone, Angel would have accompanied him but was required to get there early for ‘work’. He was approaching the large tower building that indicated Valentino’s domain. The radio demon paused for a few moments made sure everything was straight and tried to keep his shoulders level and his arms neutral. This was going to be a challenge, but he had to try his best to make sure that his weakness was not shining through. His arm and chest still ached, he knew his movements would be stiff if he wasn’t careful. Taking a deep breath in he locked his smile in place and moved forwards. 

The party was in Valentino’s penthouse, the top floor of his porn studios. There was plenty of muscle in the foyer, although Alastor mused that they were mainly for show, no one invited would do anything, all these upper class demons and overlords had far more to lose in holdings and reputation than any threat of physical violence could hope to keep them in line. 

He stretched to his full height as Alastor handed his invitation over and was ushered inside. The welcoming comity stepped to one side wordlessly, and allowed him to pass.

_Valentino has good taste in employee’s_

It was a well known rumour that Valentino was a control freak regarding his workers, he could be pleasant enough, but to test his patience or question his decisions was a very unhealthy idea. Alastor pressed the call button for the elevator but didn’t have to wait before the doors slide effortlessly open, inside, the only button that was lit up was a white circle with a red heart emblazoned in it, pressing it the door shut and the elevator moved upwards.

Despite being alone, Alastor refused to let his facade lower, Valentino had already caught him out once in his building, he was sure camera’s were hidden everywhere. There was a ding and the doors slid open revealing the den of sin beyond.

Well-dressed demons and souls drank from fancy glasses as the ‘entertainment’ walked among them, this was an upper class cocktail party if ever there was one, Alastor could smell the conceit and vanity from where he stood. As he stepped out into the room the first thing he was greeted with was scantily clad lady holding a large silver tray offering him a drink. Alastor took the glass and looked at the silvery bubbles dancing within the flute.

“Thank you.” The server never responded and simply moved off.

_Seen but not heard it seems._

He took a sip, internally rolled his eyes… far too sweet for Alastor’s tastes, glancing around he found who he was looking for easily enough. The host, Valentino was spread across a large dark red sofa situated in almost in the centre of the room, probably so he can survey the entire party easily. His large fluffed coat covered almost all of him and had a pretty creature resting at the crook of each of his arms, one of them was a seductively dressed pink spider, Angel was smiling up as Valentino spoke down to him… it was a forced smile. 

Valentino’s gold fang glinted as he smiled, his attention turned to the approaching radio demon.

“Alastor, glad you could make it.” He made no attempt to get up to greet him, “Angel cakes here was just telling me all about you, I was wondering when you’d get here… feeling well?”

His eyes flashed behind his heart shaped glasses as he gave Angel a squeeze around his middle. The porn stars smile fluctuated for a fraction of a second and his eyes darted towards Alastor for the briefest of moments before returning his gaze to Valentino. 

“I’m doing fine as always, thank you for inviting me to such an elegant event.” Alastor tilted his head down in the tiniest of bows. Valentino indicated to the far space in his seating area and Alastor went to sit there. Ideally he would have been able to move away but looks like he was under too much scrutiny. 

Sitting down he quickly looked around before turning his attention back to Valentino’s piercing gaze. Alastor bristled slightly as he made eye contact with Vox on the other side of the room, for what must have been less than a split second Alastor could have sworn that Vox’s monitor face displayed an image of an upturned middle finger towards him.

_Prick_

“Angel cakes, I’m a little parched, get me another drink won’t you?” Valentino let his grip loosen allowing Angel to stand.

“Sure thing boss.” As the pink spider moved away Valentino spanked hard across his ass as he passed earning a gasp of surprise. Alastor kept his face frozen in his signature smile, Valentino was watching him… testing him and Alastor wasn’t about to disrespect his host, or lose to the game he was playing. 

“So Alastor, I’ve been meaning to expand my business and you’re sat on a hotel that has plenty of space… I’m thinking we can make a deal.” Valentino was still leant back in an apparent casual manner but his voice and his eyes were sharp and deadly. Alastor tried tact first.

“If only that was the case if I had the position to negotiate, but the hotels' ownership does not reside with me.” Valentino raised an eyebrow.

“You mean that grey little nothing? I’m sure it would be no trouble at all for you to get her to hand it over… unless there was another reason?” His red eyes narrowed. 

_How much do you know?… How much did you get out of Angel?_

Alastor was about to open his mouth to answer when Angel slid back into view and handed Valentino his drink, it interrupted the awkwardness of the moment and a twitch of annoyance played across the pimp demons face. Angel settled back down by Valentino’s side but once again shot a cursory glance towards Alastor. Valentino sipped his drink.

“You know how to make ‘em the way I like.” he relished the taste.

“Course I do boss, I want to keep ya happy don’t I?” Angel smiled back. Valentino’s eyes moved over the spider.

“Why don’t you me all about your friend Alastor here, you know since you’ve been spending so much time with him, when you haven’t been working for me that is. I’m sure you’ve picked up some interesting facts about our radio friend.” Angel froze for a moment and looked back at the radio demon, Valentino grinned and waited, he knew Angel wouldn’t be able to keep for quiet for too long… well if he knew what was good for him anyway. The spider fidgeted in his place and Valentino squeezed him again. 

“I’m just gunna bore ya boss, Alastor’s kinda borin’ he doesn’t get up to much… I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it.”

“Oh but I do Angel cakes… I do.” His grin grew fierce and Angel swallowed.

***

Charlie finally woke up from her dreamlike stupor, she stretched and couldn’t help but smile slowly, what a good use of the day.

“Don’t remember getting to my bed.” She felt strangely itchy and rubbed at her arms absent-mindedly. Getting up she had to steady herself as a wave of light-headedness washed over her.

“Looks like I didn’t need to go to Vaggie at all.” She stretched her arms above her head and felt her stomach growl. She moved for the exit, it was time for some food.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	38. Progress.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor endures the rest of the party and Charlie chases another high.

Angel felt shame burning up his face. He was looking at Valentino as he spoke quietly, but he could feel Alastor’s fixed gaze on him, and he could imagine what the smile looked like. Angel knew it was that same mask that Alastor wore whenever he was in an uncomfortable situation and this was a bad one.

He didn’t know what Valentino was after but didn’t want to reveal anything too intimate about the two of them, so he spoke about how Alastor would let him get over his hangovers round his or how they have been out for a few dinners… Valentino didn’t seem satisfied yet so Angel had to keep going, he knew better than to disappoint his boss, it could be scary if he did. Eyes darting over to Alastor confirmed that he was still silently watching and waiting for this to be over, Angel thought he saw the radio demon gripping his trousers a little tighter than would be normal, but he relaxed his hands a few moments later. 

“So one time I took Alastor out for a drink to celebrate, He got so drunk he couldn’t see straight.”

Valentino’s smile grew.

_ Oh no… _

“Really? Tell me Angel cakes, what were you celebrating?” Angel gulped again.

“N-nothing just someone gettin’ something bad happen to them at the hotel…”

“Don’t make me ask again.” Valentino’s smile was slowly turning into a look of annoyance. Angel knew what would happen next so he answered quickly. 

“Charlie and Vaggie had a bit of a fallin’ out, an’ we weren’t hot for Vaggie at the time.” Angel waved his hands dismissively. “But we’re fine now!” 

“Since Charlie killed herself?” Angel nodded.

“Ye-.” Valentino’s eyes flashed behind his glasses as Angel cut himself off midway through agreeing. 

_ Fuckin’ hell. _

Angel didn’t know how to respond, Was Valentino just trying to bait the porn star into embarrassing himself, well whatever, it was working. Valentino turned back to Alastor,

“I think I’ve taken enough of your time, enjoy the party, I’ll even let Angel accompany you. Have a think about my offer, we could both stand to make a lot out of a joint arrangement.” Alastor stood up and Angel was freed to get up too.

“I’ll let you know if there are any changes regarding the Hotel, thank you again for your hospitality.” Alastor turned to leave and Angel trotted up to be by his side as they both walked away from Valentino, still sat down and staring at the back of the duo, he took another sip from his drink and went into deep thought. 

Alastor wanted to leave straight away, but it would cause too many problems, so he and Angel engaged in small talk until the early hours of the morning, Angel had offered to get the radio demon another drink, but he politely declined. Angel on the other hand drank heavily, hoping to ease his conscience.

*** 

_ Charlie’s legs were shaking, and she couldn’t stop them from trembling even with them wrapped around Vaggie’s waist. She would have been screaming out if it weren’t for her partners lips pressed against hers. Vaggie was using her hand and massaging a spot that was driving Charlie mad. _

_ ‘How are you this good?... Oh! FUCK!’ Charlie’s train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as her body began to tense. _

When Charlie woke it was with such a start that she practically rolled off the bed and cried out as she began to slip down the side clawing wildly at the sheets in an attempt stay on. She took a few steadying breaths once she had regained her balance. 

“Dreaming about the first time you made love now?” Charlie let out a frustrated scream.

“For fuck sake, don’t call it that!” Hells, if she could see the voice, Charlie knew it would have been smiling.

“Well what would you call it?”

“Fucking.” 

“Blunt, but if I recall it started when we told Vaggie we loved her whilst we watched that sappy movie together… so, kind of was ‘making love’ Did we ever watch the end?”

“Please, shut up.”

“Fine, fine I can tell you’re getting all awkward about it again. Are you going to shoot up again and take another day off?”

“Why do you care? I probably will.” 

“You’re going to incredible lengths just to avoid your problems.” Charlie didn't respond and slid off the bed and lifted the corner of her mattress, underneath a small wrapped plastic bundle. She open it up and pulled out another disposable syringe along with a tiny wrapped bundle of white.

It was a good thing she bought spare needles, she had no idea where the last one went. Mixing and heating was easy especially with fire a finger snap away. She drew the solution back into the needle and looked at it, placing all the other bits back under her mattress she slapped her forearm hard a few times until a faint blue line had started to rise up. Charlie gritted her teeth as she pushed the needle in and the warm solution flushed into her bloodstream. 

Charlie placed the needle down on the bedside table this time before slumping back down on her bed, the warm numbing made her entire body seem heavy, and she just seemed to melt into the blankets, her eyes half closed, she dreamily smiled to herself. The blonde would try to and do something when she woke up again. 

***

“I’m sorry Smiles.” Angel was wringing several hands, they were alone in Alastor’s room after an awkwardly silent walk back.

“It’s fine Angel, I knew it was going to happen.” Alastor was easing his jacket off past his injured shoulder and started to unbutton his shirt. Angel wasn't letting up,

“It was still shitty, but you understand I didn’t have any other choice, right?” Alastor rolled his eyes, of course he knew Angel was just being needy right now, it probably didn’t help that he was swaying in place. Drunk Angel was definitely insecure Angel.

The radio demon winced as he removed his remaining clothes and ran a hand carefully across his injuries, looks like he hadn’t done himself any more damage during the evening, but they certainly ached more. He carefully slid into the bed and settled down, looking over Angel hadn’t seemed to make any progress and was still just watching.

“Angel, you need to calm down and get in bed.” The spider started undoing his dress with a pair of hands but his eyes hadn’t left Alastor.

“Y-You’re not mad at me, are you?” Alastor was getting tired of Angel acting like he had done something wrong, he was just a pawn to Valentino’s game, that was where the blame lay. 

“No, do you think I should be?” Angel looked panicked, 

“N-no…”

“Then don’t worry, okay?”

“Okay, sorry!” Angel’s dress fluttered to the floor, and he slid his body into bed next to Alastor’s good side and gently held onto his chest and pressed his body up to Alastor’s free arm. The radio demon could feel Angel’s heart pounding away, he had been more worried than he had let on.

Angel nuzzled his face into Alastor’s shoulder and breathed in deeply before planting a few kisses on his collarbone. He really hoped that in the future he wouldn’t have to mix work and his private life like that again, it was not a good combination. 

***

Charlie stirred for the second time today, this time however, from a dreamless stupor. Her limbs still felt heavy but the warm comforting feeling was gone, she shifted around and sat herself up, propped up against the headboard. 

“How are you feeling?” Charlie paused and opened her eyes, that wasn’t the voice in her head. Vaggie was sat on the other side of the room, she was holding a syringe in her hand. Charlie turned immediately hostile and glared at her. 

“Did you just let yourself into my fucking room!?” Vaggie nodded slowly, she didn’t look happy about it.

“I have a master key Charlie, you know that… and I have to check on people who haven’t been seen for a while.” Charlie snorted, like Vaggie needed to explain… she knew.

“You have to perv on people, you mean?” Charlie retorted and Vaggie looked shocked.

“W-What?” 

“Oh come on! You came and checked on me, you could have just left but you stayed! Did you have a good feel whilst I was out of it?” Charlie felt the sadistic joy swelling inside her as Vaggie looked more uncomfortable. 

“Of course not!” 

“Well you missed your chance, weren’t you even a little curious what else might have changed about me?” She flashed a cruel grin as Vaggie looked away turning scarlet.

“Charlie… please don’t do this…” Gripping her hand around the needle she lifted it up.

“I’m here about this! Charlie what’s this about? I gave you the benefit of the doubt yesterday but twice in as many days? Charlie you know we don’t allow drugs in here… why are you doing it?”

“It’s none of your  **fucking** business!” Charlie’s fury was rising, the audacity of Vaggie asking about her private business, she had no right!

“It is Charlie, you’re staying here, you need to follow the rules too…” Why did Vaggie have to sound so sorry about everything, where had her spine gone?

“Well then maybe its time you ask me to leave, I’m not changing!” Charlie was waiting for this, finally she might be able to get free. 

“Please, don’t force me to Charlie… I want to help you.” Vaggie looked visible tormented by the idea of having to ask Charlie to leave. 

“Force you?  **FORCE YOU!** Like you forced me here!” She wanted to jump up, run over and just hit her. 

“I didn’t force you anywhere, I asked you to think about coming back! Why did you come here if you hate it here so much? If you hate being around me!” Charlie didn’t need to hear any of this and just yelled back.

**“I DON’T KNOW!”** Vaggie’s eye was wide, and she looked so concerned at the shouting princess, she still held the syringe in one hand. 

“Charlie, I’m really worried about you… Ever since you...” Charlie snapped back quickly,

“I don’t need you to fucking worry about me! I don’t need anyone to!” 

“I know you think that, but you’ve been so destructive, to others and yourself!” 

“Ever fucking thought that maybe I just like the pain? Maybe I like hurting other people like I hurt myself?” Vaggie looked straight at her with a penetrating stare

“Did you enjoy hurting me?” Charlie flinched, 

“W-What?  **SHUT UP!** ” Now of all times a creeping voice spoke inside Charlie’s head.

_ “She’s calling your bluff Broken… I told you, just let it go and you will feel better.”  _

**“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”** Charlie screamed out before Vaggie had even responded startling her. Charlie’s hands were shaking, and she stared down at them as she could feel her heartbeat smashing around inside her own head, screwing her eyes shut she held her hands against her face.

She heard Vaggie get up, heard her soft footsteps getting closer and felt her sit down on the bed, Charlie didn’t want to move her hands away from her face.

“D-Don’t fucking touch me Vaggie, Don’t!” It didn’t stop her, and gentle arms were softly wrapping themselves around Charlie, she tried to jerk away but Vaggie held on around the blonde.

_ “Look at her, open your eyes and just look at her.” _

“Let go of me, please let go of me… I don’t want… don’t want… to.” Vaggie didn’t respond and just stayed put. Charlie slowly lowered her hands and even more excruciatingly slowly, opened her eyes. Vaggie’s face was a few inches away, Charlie could half see her reflection in Vaggie’s wide and glossy eye. Horns and red eyes looking sadly back at herself. 

“Why can’t you let me go?” Charlie barely spoke above a whisper, her ragged breathing almost seemed louder. 

“You know why… Do you need me to say it?” Charlie nodded timidly. 

“It’s because Charlie… no matter what, I still love you, and I want to help you get better.” 

It finally happened, Charlie cracked, her face seemed to crumple, she reached shaky hands out and pulled Vaggie in as the tears started to form, she cried into her shoulder and clutched at Vaggie’s back tightly, she could feel Vaggie tensing, this was clearly causing her pain, but she just continued to hold Charlie without complaint, she was crying too as it finally seemed she had got somewhere with the raging blonde. 

Several quiet minutes passed, the only sound was the occasional sob or sniff from either of them, Charlie seemed to have settled down and Vaggie ran a hand up and down her back without earning any protest. Charlie paused before retracting her hands around Vaggie and suddenly seemed to push her away, Vaggie gasped out as she was roughly shoved back. Charlie’s eyes were puffy and tears still lined her cheeks.

“Get the fuck out my room.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	39. A girls Night Out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie has a night out, but this time she isn't going out alone.

The knock surprised Angel, he paused the show he was watching and slid off the bed, Angel wasn’t expecting a visit from Alastor, who frankly was the only one who visited his hotel room. He opened his door revealing the soul beyond. Charlie’s red eyes greeted him, and she shifted her weight around on each foot as she stood awkwardly. 

“Err, Angel… Hi.” He stood slacked jawed for a few moments.

“Charlie… you’ve er, changed?” Angel hadn’t seen her since the wake, he knew she was different but Alastor never told him  _ how  _ different. 

“Yeah…” There was another long paused, it was getting awkward now. Angel looked at the way Charlie was standing, it wasn’t an aggressive stance but still… the things she did to Alastor, the strongest demon he knew was quite frankly startling. He didn’t quite know what to do.

“So… haven’t seen you in a while…” Charlie tried a smile, but it looked forced.

“Last time I saw you, it was at my parents… you know…” Angel’s eye widened a little.

“You could see us then?” Charlie sighed in response.

“Kinda… it’s a long story, at the end of it… ta-da.” she pointed a finger at her horns, Angels eyes followed.

“It’s err, definitely a new look for you Toots, kinda got that sexy powerhouse vibe.” Charlie smiled again and this time it was more genuine. 

“Thanks Angel, listen I’m feeling a little cooped up in here and was wondering if you fancied hitting a club, normally I’d go by myself but I’m not feeling it, you know?” Angel paused for a moment, at least her request wasn’t horrible, a small part of his unease slid aside and he slipped into his usual grin.

“Need a sexy wingman?” Charlie let out a soft laugh that was totally at odds with her rather dominating appearance. 

“Haha, something like that, so are you free?” Angel seemed to pause before nodding. 

“Sure Charlie, we can catch up.” Angel looked both ways up and down the corridor before lowering his voice “Do you think you’ll end up singin’?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know, see how drunk I get?” What an odd question, but Charlie couldn’t tell if Angel was mocking her. 

“If you’re gunna party with Angel Dust, you gotta get ready to hit it hard Toots!” Charlie let a grin spread from ear to ear, this was the energy she needed.

“I think tonight is going to be so much fun!” 

***

“The fuck did you say to me? Bitch!” A pair of rough hands had shoved Charlie back, she stumbled and the drink she was clutching in one hand sloshed onto the floor. Unfocused eyes shifted round to look at the owner of the angry face who had pushed her. Charlie felt her own anger rising, and she wondered how much of a mess she would end up making putting this pretentious soul in their place. 

Turns out she didn’t need to, Angel came swimming back into view standing and with a fluid motion had brought a bottle smashing down on their head. The demons face turned into a brief moment of shock before keeling over sideways and slumping down on the floor. 

“Don’t fuckin’ start somethin’ you can’t finish sweetheart!” Angel grinned at Charlie, Charlie started laughing, she didn’t even mind when both her and Angel were grabbed by several larger creatures and tossed out the club. 

Resting on the curb Charlie blinked a few times but it didn’t help, her eyes were still unfocused and everything seemed to be spinning. She could feel Angel leaning up against her, but it felt so far away. 

It was an understatement to say that they had hit the booze hard, Charlie hadn’t drunk this much so quickly, ever. Both were dressed up for the event, Charlie was wearing her favourite little black number, she loved the way it showed off her hips and revealed most of her thighs… a real crowd pleaser. Angel was wearing a flashy red cocktail dress, it puffed up his plumage and gave a lovely view of his long legs. Angel looked at Charlie’s swaying body and nudged her with his elbow.

“Charlie, you tappin’ out? The night’s still early… we’ve only been kicked out of one place!”

“How… how can you drink… so much!?” Charlie’s words were slurred as she tried to desperately focus on the voice sat next to her. 

“Practice Toots, you tellin’ me you’re a lightweight?” Charlie puffed up her chest.

“Noo! I just need… a minute before we go again… O-kay?” Angel whispered into her ear,

“I got a pick me up… if you want?” A slow smile crept over the blonde’s face,

“Amazing!” She stuck out her hand, palm flat and waited expectantly. Angel couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, he pulled a hand down to get at a hidden compartment on the inside of his dress, just underneath the bust and pulled out what looked like a tiny wrapped paper capsule. He placed it in Charlie’s hand, she blinked a few times and tried to look at it.

“What… what is it?” she used her other hand and poked it around her hand, it looked like there was a tiny amount of powder inside the paper wrapping. 

“Somethin’ that will wake ya up, just bomb it down your throat, that shit tastes awful.” Charlie took it up to her mouth and swallowed it straight down without any hesitation. 

“Doooooone!” She started to try to stand and Angel had to help her get all the way up,

“Let’s go Angel! Take me to the next club!” She offered out her arm indicating that she wanted to link it with Angel. The spider threaded one his arms through and helped Charlie stagger around as he led them to his next favourite drinking spot. It would be a bit of time before it hit Charlie’s system. 

***

Charlie was sat alone at a table, her balance was still shot, but she could focus again and hardly felt tired at all. Angel had gone to get drinks as Charlie couldn’t be trusted to walk back without dropping them. She was looking around at all the other sinners in the place, there was a dance floor off in the distance and just groups and groups of souls chatting, drinking and laughing. Charlie smiled to herself, she was having fun being away from the hotel. She didn’t need to think about Vaggie here and that other voice in her head hadn’t spoken up all evening, Charlie wondered if she could silence it with alcohol. 

Her train of thought was interrupted as Angel placed a large serving tray down on the table.

“Angel, how many drinks did you get!?” The tray was covered in glasses of various sizes. 

“We don’t have to get more for a while… but first lets get these down you!” With several hands he placed seven small glasses in front of himself and then again for Charlie.

“What’s all this?” Charlie looked at the different drinks, all of them a different colour her eyes lit up with delight. 

“Seven Deadly Sins!” Angel pointed, “start here and work your way down, no pausin’ and by the time you’ve finished you’ll feel like hell.” He grinned and placed a hand on his first one. 

“Ready Toots?” Charlie bit her bottom lip and grinned at him.

“Ready!” 

The glasses came up and one after another, Charlie swallowed them down.

_ Lust -  _ It was passion fruit and salted caramel schnapps, it felt like liquid velvet was being poured down her throat and it made her cheeks warm. 

_ Gluttony  _ \- An Irish cream but somehow thicker with a hint of butter? Charlie had to really chew it down to swallow it, it felt sluggish. 

_ Greed  _ \- The cinnamon flavour of this thin drink stung at the back of her throat, it had tiny gold flakes floating inside it, and they tickled as they went down. 

_ Sloth  _ \- It was almost like drinking a honeyed banana, it was sickly sweet and was smooth, Charlie thought that her throat was going numb, could there be a mild  anaesthetic mixed in?

_ Wrath  _ \- It was an amber liquid, whiskey or some equivalent… but it burned, it burned all the way going down and felt like a fiery hole was stinging in Charlie’s stomach, She was gasping for air and even dragging that in hurt, the only escape was to quickly grab the next one and drink it down quickly. 

_ Envy  _ \- It was green and red, tasted of watermelon and it soothed the fire going down… right up until the absinthe kick punched Charlie straight in the jaw and left her reeling. It left only one remaining drink and Charlie was almost nervous, but not wanting to disappoint herself or lose Angel’s challenge, she grabbed it and drank it quickly down.

_ Pride  _ \- A sip of bourbon and maybe just a hint of fortified wine, it was a sophisticated fruity flavour and seemed to go down a lot smoother than the absinthe did. 

“Seven… fucking… deadly… sins…” Charlie groaned as she placed the last glass down, her stomach didn’t quite know what to do with itself. 

“Wow Toots, I’m impressed most can’t even finish it fist time round.” Charlie did finish… barely, Angel hardly looked phased but was smiling at Charlie struggling.

“I’m not like most Angel… give me… some credit!” Angel pushed another glass towards her, this time a much larger fruitier looking cocktail, something to sip.

“So what would you do by yourself on a night like this?” Angel was already taking a drink from his new glass, Charlie couldn’t even think about drinking more right now.

“Well you know… I’d try to find some company for the evening… and other stuff.” Angel raised and eyebrow and cooed over at her.

“Charlie, you been gettin’ laid?” A blush spread across the blonde’s cheeks, and she fumbled for the glass that Angel had pushed towards her. 

“Kinda, yeah…” Angel grinned and span around on his chair to look out to all the other souls in the place, he gestured a hand towards them.

“So, what would you be thirsty for?” Charlie looked around and thought about it for a moment. 

“Him, over there… or maybe her…” She indicated to a large red skinned demon, with dark iron coloured horns curled around his face, thick neck, broad chest and massive arms, Angel knew the type, the lady demon stood with a strange elegance despite her location with a long flowing dress that almost appeared to be part of her rather than a piece of clothing. 

“Why not both?” Angel’s question flustered Charlie more. 

“I’ve never done that sort of thing before… what’s it like?” She was eyeing Angel with curiosity that would have been child-like if it wasn’t for the adult subject.

“It’s fun Toots, bein’ the centre of attention like that… wears you out though, tryin’ to keep everyone happy gets tirin’ quick… messy too!” He took another look at the male creature.

“You shouldn’t bet for a good time just cos he’s a muscle head… usually makin’ up for a baby dick or somethin’.” Charlie sighed and ran a finger around the lip of her glass.

“Tell me about it… I just like the idea of a powerful guy… you know?” Angel tilted his head to one side as he glanced at Charlie looking wistfully off. 

“You know Toots, it comes from more than just muscle… it’s about attitude and I dunno, presence or some shit… I mean one time, Smiles just had to look at m-... shit! Sorry?” Charlie blinked a few times, Angel cursed under his breath… he was gettin’ drunk. Else he wouldn’t have slipped up like that.

“You mean Alastor?... It’s fine Angel… I don’t think I’m mad at him, or at least I don’t think I want to burn him any more.” She looked down as she turned her empty hand over. 

_ I mean I still don’t trust him… but who does? _

Angel let out a slow sigh, he wouldn’t talk about Alastor any more tonight, he certainly didn’t want to try his luck, although something else did cross his mind that he couldn’t help but asking about.

“Tell me to fuck off if this is too much but, what about Vaggie? Weren’t you two close or somethin’?” 

Charlie’s immediate reaction was to say ‘fuck off’ but as her mouth opened, and she clenched her fist she paused. Maybe it was the alcohol talking but Charlie wanted to get it off her chest to someone that wasn’t a god-damn chirpy voice in her head. 

“... Promise you won’t breathe a word of this to anyone?” Angel nodded solemnly and held up a hand.

“Promise on my love for booze and dick!” Charlie rolled her eyes but the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile. 

“I don’t know Angel, sometimes I just want to choke her…” Angel grinned.

“Mmm, kinky.”

“Not like that… and sometimes I just want to be around her, I don’t know…” Angel took another drink as Charlie fell silent. 

“If ya want my two cents, she’s got a fierce temper on her, probably why she’s down here but other than that? I get it ya know? She reminds me of a few friends I had when I was alive… Good people.” 

Something seemed to twitch as Angel finished that sentence and Charlie stared at him.

“What was it like… being alive, meeting good people?” Charlie’s fingers were clenching on the table. Angel took a moment to think it over, it was hard to remember that Charlie was born down here, hell was all she really knew.

“They were kinda like everybody else… just cos they were good didn’t mean they were walkin’ saints or nothin’. We all made mistakes but the good ones would have your back through thick and thin… I hope they get to go somewhere better…” He seemed to freeze up before rapidly draining his glass and pulling a fresh one towards himself. 

Charlie sat there and thought about what the spider had said, after a few minutes of quiet she took a sip of her drink. 

“Hey Angel, thanks for that… but you’re kinda bumming me out, let’s finish up these drinks and go dance?” Angel responded with a grin.

“Sure thing Toots, see if we can’t get you that special someone tonight.” 


	40. Finally, the Truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie has some liquid courage and deals with the consequences.

*knock knock knock*

Vaggie stirred, and grumbled slightly before rolling over again and pulling the sheet back up over her shoulder.

*knock knock knock*

Her eye fluttered open... 

_ What the fuck is that? _

The fog started to clear and she heard the knocking again

*knock knock knock knock knock knock*

Someone was at her door, suddenly Vaggie was concerned, had she overslept?

_ What time is it? _

Reaching across she grabbed her silenced phone, the screen half blinded her as it displayed the time. Four thirty AM, but more importantly behind the time was the icon indicating missed calls… Several missed calls, all from the same ID.

*knock knock knock knock knock knock*

Feelings of unease descended as she found the energy to slip out of bed and finding a dressing gown, she made sure it was tied up tight as she headed to the door and taking a breath she opened it, already guessing who was on the other side. 

Charlie was in a fucking state, she could barely stand and had her eyes shut, Vaggie could almost smell the booze before she saw her. 

“Charlie?” Charlie’s eyes opened to stare in Vaggie’s direction, she seemed to almost wind up like a clockwork toy before half lunging, half stumbling forward. She grabbed hold of Vaggie’s shoulder and her other hand wrapped around the back of Vaggie’s neck.

Vaggie didn’t know what to do, she didn’t want to throw Charlie off, but she was uncomfortably close and clearly unstable. 

“Hi… Vaggie, I err… I’ve been doing ssssssssome thinking…” Her speech was almost incoherent.

“Charlie, Can you let go of me please? You’re drunk.” Charlie seemed to completely ignore her.

“I’ve... beeeeen doingggggg loadssssss of thiiiiiiinking Vaggie… Are you a goooood person?... Tell me that you’re a goooood person, I neeeeed to hear you ssssay it!” 

“Charlie I can’t really understand you, come on let me help you to your room.” Charlie seemed to tug on Vaggie even closer if that was possible, her wide red eyes inches away from Vaggie’s, Hells it smelt like Charlie had drank all the spirits in the nine circles tonight.

“Ifff you sssssay it, it will make sooooo happy… Don’t you wwant me to be happy?” For a brief moment it looked like Charlie was about to burst into tears, but then she blinked and half tilted backwards. Vaggie finally managed to pry fingers off her and Charlie almost fell backwards.

“Charlie, I don’t know what you’re on about, do you need help?” Charlie’s head rolled to one side before rotating back round with her eyes half-lidded.

“I knooow what you caann hellllp me with…” Her drunken speech was half sung as she reached out and started to attempt to tug open Vaggie’s bathrobe. Vaggie went wide-eyed and clutched to keep it shut. 

“Charlie! No!” 

“Cooome on, we both wanttt it.” 

“It doesn’t matter what I want, you’re too drunk! I can’t!” Vaggie’s heart had started to hurt, Charlie was drunkenly playing with it. The blonde’s entire demeanour changed in an instant, and she froze up.

“Can’t… or won’t?” She was staring at Vaggie’s face again, this time it seemed more focused and intense. Charlie was a stubborn drunk it seemed, Vaggie sighed, looks like the only way to move on from this was to placate her.

“It’s  **can’t** Charlie, Hells… I’ve thought about you every, damned, day. But I can’t… not like thi-” Vaggie’s voice caught in her throat, Charlie had managed to slip a hand inside the folds of her robe and a warm hand was touching her stomach before sliding round to hold her side. Vaggie swallowed, her heart was in overdrive. She hadn’t realized how much she missed Charlie’s warm touch until it was on her again. Charlie was leaning in again, smiling at Vaggie’s stumble, it gave her the time to slide her other hand behind Vaggie’s robe and hold her other side, the robe parted a fraction and a line of grey skin could be seen from neck to pelvis.

“Youuu were sayinnnng?

“I-I-I” Vaggie had started to tremble, and it had nothing to do with the cold or exposed skin, her breathing hitched.

“SSayy youu want it.” Vaggie could feel a heat spread across her cheeks, Charlie’s face was getting closer again with that damned coy smile.

_ What’s the point?... It’s all I’ve thought about. _

“I-I do.” Their lips met and Charlie wrapped her hands around Vaggie’s back and pulled her in towards her. A tiny moan formed in Vaggie’s throat as she felt Charlie hands gripped hard and the passionate kiss was pressed down on her.

She could taste the after-image of everything that Charlie had drunk, how she was still standing was close to a miracle. Both of them had eyes closed, and they still hadn’t parted the slow burn of passions was starting to increase and Vaggie had gripped around Charlie’s waist. 

Charlie’s hands were moving up Vaggie’s back gently dragging fingernails along her skin, it sent shivers down her spine, and she just let out a timid moan. Charlie’s hands were on her shoulders now, Vaggie could feel cool air as her robe was lifted off, it parted and came fluttering down to rest at her elbows exposing her chest and shoulders. Fingers were being traced across Vaggie’s collarbone and up and down her neck, despite her inebriation, Charlie was surprisingly still delicate with her movements.

When they finally parted, Vaggie chest was rising and falling rapidly. Charlie leant across and gently nibbled on her shoulder, sharp fangs lightly grazing skin and this time Vaggie could cry out louder as she grabbed hold of Charlie tightly. 

Then the spell was broken, Charlie’s whole back seemed to tense up, and she stopped and rapidly pulled up. The colour in her cheeks was fading quick. 

“I… I don’t feel so good.” There was a lurch and Charlie clutched at her stomach and pushed passed Vaggie. Charlie practically ran for the bathroom and Vaggie winced as she heard the retching. It gave her a few moments to steady her heart and breathing and tie up her robe again before stepping back and closing the door.

_ That was intense… _

The retching continued, and Vaggie sighed gently as she made her way over. Charlie had half missed the first time, vomit was splattered on the floor and the rim of the toilet bowl, it had got on the blonde’s legs and dress as she had collapsed on it, her head bent and shoulders heaving as she emptied her guts into the toilet. Charlie’s hair had cascaded down past her face, it looked clean for now but the way it was swaying around it seemed to be only a matter of time before it would be sicked on.

Vaggie carefully stepped around the blonde and reached down and carefully gathered her hair and held it back for her. 

“T-hank-s” Charlie was gripping the sides of the toilet hard, and she heaved into it again.

“That’s okay hun, just get it all out.” Charlie coughed and spat into the toilet before reaching a hand out and flushing it, she placed her hands back down to the bowl as she vomited again. After a while her stomach was completely empty and every half a minute she would be dry heaving. It took about twenty minutes before she had stopped. Charlie’s breathing was laboured and her eyes were wet with tears from the uncomfortable burning in her throat. Vaggie reached a hand and undid the back zip of Charlie’s dress.

“Time to get you cleaned up, okay?” Charlie didn’t speak but instead just nodded. Vaggie helped Charlie to thread her arm back through the straps for the dress and gently slid it down. She offered her hand and took Charlie’s shaking arm helping her stand up and slipping the dress under passed her feet, the heels Charlie were wearing was also soiled. She helped take them off and eased Charlie into the shower.

Charlie hadn’t been wearing any underwear tonight.

Aiming the shower head low, Charlie’s lower body was cleaned off by the gentle water pressure. Taps turned off Vaggie helped dry the princess with a towel and helped her navigate around the filth that was the toilet area. Brining her out into the main room she eased Charlie’s naked body straight into her bed… On Charlie’s old side of the bed. Vaggie brought over the waste paper bin and put it next to her.

“Just in case you need to be sick.” Charlie’s eyes hadn’t left Vaggie, and she nodded again. Next was a glass of water placed on the table next to her, Charlie immediately reached for it and started drinking.

“Not so fast hun, little sips or you’ll just throw it up again.” Charlie paused and put the glass back down before curling up on her side, looks like that final act of vomiting had taken away the last of her energies and Charlie’s eyes were drifting shut.

“... Sorry.” She managed to whisper out before loosing consciousness. Vaggie took a stray lock of hair and tucked it behind Charlie’s ear. 

“That’s okay.” Vaggie took a few moments to watch Charlie’s soft breaths become a regular pattern, then she moved into the bathroom, the smell was strong in here, so she closed the door not wanting the stench to spread. Getting a few cloths from the cupboard under the sink she started to clean.

By the time she was done it was close to five thirty, but the bathroom was clean and Charlie’s soiled clothes and shoes were tied up in a plastic bag, Vaggie would take them to get cleaned later. Getting back into the bedroom Vaggie was grateful for the fresher air, Charlie was still unconscious and probably would be for most of the day if Vaggie was to put money on it. She hung up her robe after checking to make sure it was still clean, it was thankfully. Moving naked around the room she quietly got dressed.

_ Pretty sure I could swing a cat around and it wouldn’t wake you up… _

It was still going to be a few hours before she could get some breakfast and there was no way she was falling asleep again, so Vaggie sat down on her chair and started scrolling through her phone instead. Every few minutes her eyes glanced over Charlie’s body again, what happened an hour or so ago seemed like a strangely blurred dream.

_ What’s going on in your head Charlie? You act like you hate me one minute… and then this? _

***

_ Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck _

If Charlie thought a comedown from drugs were bad, the hangover from this was a different plane of existence. Too much booze and too many drugs her head pulsed pain with each heartbeat, and she groaned and tried to curl up into a ball, that was a mistake and pressed on her stomach she immediately had to straighten up and lie on her back. She felt clammy, its like the drink was trying to seep out of every pore trying to sober her up. 

“Fuck... this.” 

“You’re up then?” Vaggie’s voice sounded out from somewhere across the room, even though she spoke normally she might as well of shouted, Charlie winced.

“Not so fucking loud.” She tried to sit up but it took almost all her energy, she was out of breath as she pulled the covers off herself, the cool air kissing her sweating body was so relieving. She cracked open an eye. Vaggie had clearly been working on some paperwork but had paused and turned her chair to face Charlie. 

“What time is it?” Charlie blearily asked as she rubbed a hand over her face. 

“About Seven…”

“Oh, I thought it would be lat-

“In the evening.”

“Fuck…” Vaggie nodded,

“Yeah, you really slept through a whole day, how much did you drink Charlie?” Charlie had just let her body slump back down into a laying down position, she stared into the ceiling.

“A lot… I went out.”

“I got that, can you remember what you did?” Charlie tensed slightly.

“Kind of…” Vaggie soft-spoken tones sounded from across the room. 

“Do you want to explain what this morning was about?” Something close to guilt was squirming around inside Charlie, it made her already delicate stomach feel worse. 

“Not really,” Charlie’s head was pounding and this line of questions was making her feel uncomfortable, but she didn’t have the energy to move and closed her eyes again. 

“You kissed me Charlie.” It was softly spoken but there was something hidden behind Vaggie’s words.

“I know.” Charlie groaned. 

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Charlie’s heart was feeling funny again. 

“I think that’s a lie, you kept asking me if I was a good person, what was that about?”

“I don’t know.” Charlie lied again. 

“You undressed me, after I said no…” Her fingers were gripping around the sheets tighter.

“... Sorry.”

“That it?”

“Yeah.” She could feel a heat spreading across her face, why couldn’t she be left alone?

“... if you weren’t sick, I’d have let you kept going…” One of Charlie’s eyes crept back open and her sight drifted down, she still couldn’t see Vaggie but her voice was sounding stranger.

“But you said no?”

“Yeah, it was wrong, I thought I would be taking advantage of you Charlie, you clearly didn’t know what you were doing.”

“I knew…”

“So what’s going on with you Charlie?”

“I don’t know.” She heard Vaggie’s exasperated sigh.

“You know, but you don’t know?!” Her voice was raising and it made Charlie wince.

“Not so loud…” Vaggie held her tongue and took a long slow, calming breath.

“Tell me what’s going on, please.” Charlie groaned and shifted around until she was on her side, and she was able to look at Vaggie from across the room.

“Are you a good person?” Vaggie rolled her eye.

“Again with this,” She threw up her hands, “I don’t know Charlie, I’m in hell aren’t I? All I’ve ever done is what I felt was right, that’s it! Nothing special and I guess the big man upstairs decided that wasn’t enough…”

“... I think you’re a good person.” Vaggie was taken aback as Charlie was looking over at her.

“W-What?” Charlie took a deep breath in and tried to ignore her pounding head, she closed her eyes again, it would be easier if she didn’t see.

“I’m still in love with you.” 


	41. What is Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby don't hurt me  
> Don't hurt me  
> No more
> 
> God bless you Haddaway.

The silence was painful, it weighed heavily on both of them. Vaggie didn’t know what to say and Charlie still had her eyes closed on the bed. Vaggie had to break the silence first, and spoke out barely above a whisper, hardly believing what she had heard. 

“What did you just say?” Charlie had an inscrutable expression,

“D-Did I fucking stutter?” She had no idea why she was being hostile, she felt vulnerable… and Vaggie being here made it infinitely worse, Vaggie recoiled, was this just another one of Charlie’s emotional tormenting games?

“The hell is wrong with you! Are you just trying to hurt me?” Vaggie was already tearing up, Charlie groaned when she heard a sniff.

“No… its not like that… don’t cry…” Charlie couldn’t handle the guilt and it was getting worse.

“Why not Charlie? All you seem to do at the moment is try to get a rise out of me or want to hurt me!” Vaggie wiped furiously at her eye to clear her vision. The blonde groaned and sat up rubbing her face with both hands, she really wished she’d kept her mouth shut this was a terrible time to try to do this with her head in the state it was in. Looking at Vaggie, she looked distraught, tears were running down her cheek and her whole face seemed to have fallen, she looked like she was in agony.

_I suppose I deserved that…_

Looks like Charlie had finally found the way to break Vaggie if she wanted, she could handle physical pain, insults and jealousy and took it in her stride but to mock love was something too close and dear to Vaggie’s heart. Charlie struggled to stand and limped her way over, Vaggie remained seated and just tilted her tear stained face upwards to stare at Charlie’s face.

“I’m not trying to hurt you.” Charlie hoped to calm Vaggie down, it had the exact opposite effect. Vaggie started to sob, clutching her face with her hands she doubled over. Charlie crouched down and wrapped arms around the shaking girl. Vaggie wept into the naked blonde and drawing a shaky breath.

“P-Please, don’t be lying… I can’t… I can’t take it.” Charlie felt another wave of nauseousness as she was bent over, hells why did she have to drink so much?

“I’m not.” Charlie wasn’t prepared for Vaggie to spring up straight off the chair, she had grabbed around Charlie and was hugging her tightly. Unfortunately Charlie had already lost her balance, and they both stumbled backwards before falling onto the floor, Vaggie landed with a soft thud straight on Charlie’s chest and winded her.

“Uuuugh… fuck... me.” Charlie groaned, Vaggie started to push herself off and their eyes met, she froze up, tears streaking down still but this time with a weak smile. 

“Sorry,” She got up and helped Charlie stand by offering her hand, Charlie’s face had gone pale again and her eyes looked unfocused.

“I think I need to lie down again,” she let go of Vaggie and crawled back into the bed and covered her self in sheets again and moaned.

“Uuugh...” Vaggie sniffed and wiped her face free from tears with her arm, she had stopped crying.

“Regret drinking so much?” She couldn’t help but tease.

“Yes…” Charlie huffed and moved the blankets over her head. 

“I want to talk about this Charlie, but maybe later?”

“Oh thank god…” Charlie groaning sigh got a laugh out of Vaggie.

“I’m going to go get some food, do you want me to bring you back a sandwich?” The lump under the covers shifted around. 

“That would be nice...” Vaggie grabbed her keys and moved to the door, with one final look back at the bundle of blankets she opened the door and stepped out, She managed to get a few steps down the corridor before collapsing to the side and sliding down the wall, curling up into a ball she gave her feelings a voice and wept, it wasn’t sadness or joy but just a raw emotional output, she had tried too hard to keep it bottled up around Charlie but now she couldn’t help herself. 

_She still loves me, she still loves me… She still loves me._

***

Charlie had no idea how much time had passed but Vaggie still hadn’t returned, still feeling tired although her stomach seemed to have settled for the moment Charlie got up and started having a look around.

It had been a long time since she had been in their old room, curiosity taking over she started looking through the chest of drawers and wardrobe. Vaggie had the same clothes as before, nothing seemed to have changed, even the third drawer down still had Vaggie’s collection of toys and restraints. She hadn’t used them for a very long time, in fact Charlie was almost sure that this had stayed shut since they last used it together. Moving over the wardrobe, much of the same, except hung up and pristine was a collection of Charlie’s clothes, Vaggie hadn’t got rid of them. 

“Oh…” Charlie sighed as she brushed fingertips against a sleeve. Her stomach rumbled and broke Charlie from her trance, she lent back and shut the wardrobe. Moving to the bathroom she took a long drink of water from the tap, that helped the hunger for now. Looking over to the shower she figured now was as a good as time as any, she got in and turned the heat all the way up and gasped as the hot water sprayed out.

It would have been scalding to anyone else but Charlie found that heat didn’t seem to bother her any more. It was relaxing, and she grabbed the idle bottle of shampoo before lathering up, It smelt of Vaggie of course.

_I’m sure Vaggie won’t mind._

The room was steadily filling with steam, the small amount of extraction that was present clearly wasn’t enough to cope with the billowing clouds of heated vapour. Rinsing clean of suds and shampoo remnants Charlie ran fingers over her own throat and squeezed enough that it was getting harder to breath, she smiled and let go.

“Bit of a masochist, eh Broken?” Charlie groaned and pressed her head against the tiled wall, Hot water running across her back.

“Why the fuck are you bothering me now?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Shouldn’t you be happy and silent since I’ve told Vaggie all about _my feelings_?” The voice’s response was practically dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh I’m ecstatic that it took you getting paralytic and trying to force yourself on Vaggie before you did anything.” Charlie furrowed her brow, despite feeling tender she was still getting angry. 

“Hey, nothing happened… shut up!”

“So what’s the plan now then?”

“The fuck do you mean?” She hated that the stupid voice would always dance around a subject, she didn’t need to have to second guess a voice in her own head. 

“Oh, I’m sorry are you just expecting her to just come swanning back and start choking you out whilst you fuck?” That kind of was what Charlie was thinking about, but she didn’t like the accusatory tone this voice had taken up. 

“The fuck is your problem, why do you sound so pissy?” The voice was starting to get louder and Charlie winced.

“Have you even thought about what you’ve done to her?” 

“Told her the truth?” Now it was Charlie’s turn to sound patronizing, that didn’t go down well, and she got an earful. 

“Oh fucking hell, I swear we were never this dense… you have literally and emotionally tortured her and now expect that to just go away? You haven’t even apologized.” Charlie felt another sliver of guilt squirm its way around her insides, she spoke softly. 

“I was going to…”

“You should have done that first! I bet she doesn't even know if you’re telling the truth any more, Hells only knows what sort of damage you’ve done to her!”

“I’m going to fix it!” The laughter came quickly.

“Please, you could hardly fix yourself, look at everything you've done and what you’ve become!” Charlie’s anger had returned as she thought back to who she was before.

“Fuck you! I wanted to die, I don’t any more… What I am now is fucking better than being miserable!” 

“Oh sure, sure. Now you just kill others to get your kicks? Tell me, when do you plan to tell Vaggie about how you get wet just thinking about killing someone mid-fuck?” Charlie felt shame and embarrassment, but it was true. 

“I-I can stop that!”

“Oh please, you’re just a sick freak… do you think she’ll still love you after everything comes to light?” Charlie panicked, and she said the first thing that came to mind. 

“I don’t need to tell her everything.” Charlie’s doubt was picked apart almost immediately. 

“PERFECT! Just **lie** then, I think we both remember how well lies have worked out for us.” 

“Then what the fuck do you want me to do?” The voice was reaching an intense pitch and Charlie almost fell in the shower.

“Nothing! It’s too fucking late, If you had listened to me from the beginning you would have been fine, but instead you decided to go on this fucking selfish bender. I don’t care what you do any more. Go on just lie to her, she’s too good for you… I hope she runs out of forgiveness for her sake, you don’t deserve any of it! I’m done with you.” Then there was silence, it left Charlie alone in the shower wondering what the hell had just happened, and what the hell she was going to do.

She turned off the water and got out and started to dry herself when she heard the door open, Vaggie called out.

“Charlie?” Carefully drying around her horns she called back.

“Just had a shower, one sec.”

“Okay.” Was that relief in Vaggie’s voice, had she expected Charlie to be gone? Confident that most of the water had been dried she wrapped the towel around her hair and moved into the room. Vaggie eye went wide, and she turned head away she was holding a plate out, Charlie looked down.

“What? You’ve seen me naked plenty of times… you fell on me earlier when I was naked!” Vaggie seemed to be blushing.

  
“That was different, I was upset and before that, you were sick!” Charlie cocked an eyebrow

“So what’s different now?” Vaggie seemed to pause and stutter.

“Well… you know… its just… you being here…” Charlie threw up her hands,

“Fine, fine.” She moved over to the bed Vaggie’s head turning, so she wasn’t looking directly at her. Charlie climbed in and put up a cover over her chest, she folded her arms.

“Better?” Vaggie glanced over.

“Yeah… sorry but it’s just a bit awkward right now. Hungry?” She offered the plate, it looked like a cheese and ham sandwich, truthfully she was very hungry, Charlie nodded. Vaggie approached and handed her the plate before moving and sitting back down in the chair on the other side of the room, she was watching Charlie quietly as the blonde took small bites of her meal.

“Thanks… listen I owe you some answers right?” Vaggie nodded in response, Charlie continued.

“I’m still feeling shitty, can I explain in the morning, can I stay the night?” It felt like a strangely big ask but Charlie thought that if she left she might never get the courage to try again. Vaggie seemed to think about it.

“Okay, I’ll… I’ll trust you.” Charlie seemed to think that felt almost forced. A few quiet moments settled in as Charlie finished eating and reaching across washed it down with a little more water. 

“I’m probably going to try to sleep now… I know I slept most of the day but I think I need more… Can you join me?” Vaggie nodded silently and moved to her chest of drawers, she pulled out a large baggy shirt and moved into the bathroom shutting the door behind her. Getting undressed she put the shirt on, it covered most of her and was comfortable. She slid into bed on her side still without saying anything and stayed practically on the edge of the bed, there might as well have been a brick wall between them. 

Charlie rolled over and face away, she knew this was going to be a struggle, and she didn’t say anything else, eventually drifting off to sleep, she was almost certain Vaggie hadn’t moved and was probably still wide awake. 

She didn’t know what time it was but it was still very dark, Charlie opened her eyes and was greeted by the warm sensation of arms gently wrapped around her middle and warm breath dancing up and down her back, looks like Vaggie had moved over during the night. A small smile spread and Charlie closed her eyes again trying to get a little more sleep in.

***

Vaggie shuffled slightly and felt warmth, eye blinking open she found herself in the centre of the bed, Charlie’s red eyes staring at her from half a pillow away. With embarrassing clarity she realized the warmth she was feeling was that she had curled a thigh around Charlie’s legs and a hand was resting on the blonde’s chest, She could feel Charlie’s steady heartbeat beyond her breast. She withdrew her hand and leg and shuffled back into a disappointingly cold part of the bed that constituted ‘her side’

“Sorry…” Charlie gave her a smile as Vaggie gave her apology.

“I like it when you touch me.” Vaggie went bright red and Charlie laughed.

“Vaggie, do you mind if we stay like this?” Vaggie paused.

“You ready to talk?”

“... Yeah… It’s going to be heavy.”

“I know.” Charlie took a deep breath in and locked eyes with Vaggie, she wasn’t going to close her eyes or look away, it was just starting that was the hard part.

“I’m a monster…” Vaggie went to open her mouth but was stopped by the stern look Charlie gave her, she closed it and let Charlie continue without interruption.

“Maybe it’s my father’s influence, maybe it was inside me all along, I don’t know. I think part of me wanted you to hate me, because then I wouldn’t need to care any more, but you couldn’t. I hurt you… I would have killed you if could have gone through with it, I said horrible things and I recorded myself doing that… The worst part? The worst is that I don’t feel sorry Vaggie. It’s like my empathy has been muted and I can’t feel it any more, I want to love you… I want you to be healthy and happy, so I regret and feel guilt for what I did to get to that realization. Now that I’m not hiding from it, but I’m not sorry that I did those things. I guess I’m not asking for forgiveness… maybe understanding? Shit I don’t know.” Charlie paused, this was a lot harder than she thought, but Vaggie’s face and softened and she reached an arm out and gently touched Charlie’s shoulder.

“Charlie, you’ve been in hell a hundred years longer than me, I can’t even imagine what that’s like… I don’t blame you, I’m not forgiving you, but I understand. Caring hurts sometimes, but isn’t it worth it? I hurt for you, and you hurt for me.” Charlie pulled Vaggie’s hand off.

“I’m not done… it gets worse.” Vaggie retracted her hand, Charlie looked nervous but took another deep breath in before continuing. 

“Ever since I’ve come back… I enjoy pain, not in the way I used to, its not for relief or to calm me down… I get off on it, I err I’ve destroyed souls for it, I didn’t even know their names! I would just take them somewhere and it would always end the same. I craved it… it was so intense.”

There was silence, at least Charlie had said her piece, Vaggie spoke quietly.

“Were you going to do that with me?” Charlie blinked a few times.

“Honestly? I thought about it, but I could never go through with it.” 

“Thank you for being honest… I need to think about this.”

“I know.” Vaggie slid out of bed and got her clothes together before shutting the door to the bathroom again. 

_Fuck_.

  
  



	42. Parental Advice Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie listens to a story and comes to a decision.

Vaggie still hadn’t come out, clearly she wasn’t getting dressed any more. Charlie moved out of the bed and headed towards the door but stopping short of it. Instead, she moved to the wardrobe and took one of her old outfits out and started to get dressed. Charlie finished and Vaggie still hadn’t left, moving quietly she pressed an ear up again the door, hearing Vaggie’s crying on the other side.

_ Guessed as much. _

Charlie knocked gently on the door and called through.

“I’m going to go Vaggie, give you some space.” Vaggie called back, her voice sounding out unsteadily. 

“W-Where are you g-going?”

“Just for a walk, might see my dad. I’ll go back to my room so you can meet me there… when you’re ready.” No response was given and Charlie took a few moments with a hand placed against the door before finally heading out, she needed a new pair of shoes first, then it was off to the palace. 

Vaggie pulled another piece of tissue and dabbed around her eye, she was sat on the lowered toilet seat with her legs up so she could wrap her free arm around her knees. 

_ Is my Charlie even in there any more? _

Smiles replaced with sneers,

Compassion replaced with cruelty,

Purity with perversion. 

**DEPRESSION WITH DEPRAVITY**

_ She says she still loves me, what does that even mean to her? _

“I don’t know what to do.” She let out a long pained sigh, the strange silver lining was that Charlie seemed to be telling the truth now for whatever good that did. Her heart sat heavy in her chest, Vaggie still loved Charlie, or rather she loved who Charlie was before, depression or not that was a Charlie she would have died trying to protect. This new Charlie was nothing like her, sure she sounded like her, but clearly something had changed.

“Oh god… Alastor was right.” Vaggie groaned and slid off the toilet to just lay down on the floor. The radio demon had tried to warn her, but she had been too excited that Charlie was back even if she was acting callous, reality seemed to be catching up now. 

“I need to talk to someone…” Getting to her feet Vaggie started to wash her face, the water felt refreshing on her sore eye. Crying really takes it out of you.

***

“Daaad? You out here?” Charlie was walking through the endless rows of neat flower beds and bushes in the gardens, apparently Lucifer was gardening and she would find him here, so far however Charlie had no luck. Finally, a familiar voice called back.

“I’m here Charlotte.” Charlie’s ears pricked, she quickly moved in the direction and finally turning around a large green bush she almost fell over the gardening tools spread on the green and soft lawn.

Lucifer was tending to what looked like a rose bush, its large petals were yellow and red, each one looked like a sunset. He was trimming dead twigs and tidying up out of place leaves, placing his trimmings in a bucket next to him, his brown overall covered in stains but his clothes behind were immaculate as ever. He straightened up and turned his attention to Charlie standing kind of awkwardly next to him.

“What do I owe this pleasure daughter? You’ve had some time away from here, enjoying yourself?” His eyes glinted in the light, Charlie rubbed her arm.

“I guess, I’m kind of stuck and wouldn’t mind your thoughts on something…” She flopped down and sat on the grass, it was like a fluffy pillow, you could easily sleep away a decade lying on Eden grass.

“Now this must be something! If you come seeking my advice, Charlotte.” His grin was wicked, Charlie groaned like an angsty teenager and rolled on the grass.

“Don’t give me that dad!”

“So what’s playing on your thoughts?” Charlie breathed in, the scents of the garden were in the worst possible way, simply heavenly. 

“I told Vaggie I still love her, but I don’t think she loves what I’ve become.” Lucifer turned and continued to trim the roses, but he spoke clearly enough that Charlie could still hear him despite staring at his back.

“Well, what have you become?” Charlie rolled her eyes, she knew this was a bad idea, and she could already feel her father getting ready for another cryptic riddle life lesson.

“You know, different from before… more like you.” Lucifer hummed as he scooped up another pile of trimmings into the bucket, placing down his secateurs he turned and sat on the grassing looking over his daughter who was still lying down. 

“Can I tell you a story Charlotte?” Charlie groaned and shot a red eye to look at him. 

“If I say no are you going to do it anyway?” Lucifer smiled, his hand running across the surface of the grass next time him.

“Yes” Charlie rolled her eyes again, looks like she was in for another long-winded story.

“Then why ask?”

“To give the illusion of choice. There was once a golden canary, it lived inside a silver cage, It had delicious food, a warm soft bed and it even had a companion canary to share it with. Do you know what it cared about the most?”

“I don’t know dad… tell me.” Charlie’s sarcasm surprised no one… she always hated his stories. 

“It cared about the lock on its cage, for this golden canary wished to be free, to fly outside. Because through every gap of its silver cage it could see the outside tempting it. So every day it would peck at the lock, eventually it stopped enjoying its food, it stopped enjoying its comfortable bed and even the songs of the other canary couldn’t soothe it. All this golden canary could think about was freedom.”

Lucifer reached out and plucked a rose and turned it around in-between his fingers as he admired its beauty.

“Months turned to years but eventually, the lock broke and the cage door swung open, without looking back the golden canary stretched its wings and flew out, leaving its food, its bed and its companion behind. Do you know what it found, daughter?”

“Happiness being free, after spending so much time in the cage?” 

“No Charlotte, it found that the world outside was cold, the trees it tried to sleep in were uncomfortable, the seeds and berries it tried to eat were unappetizing and calls of the other animals in the night scared it. 

The golden canary realized it had been foolish to ignore the comforts it already had, just because something is out of reach doesn’t mean it’s better. So of course it flew back to its silver cage, however the lock had been broken and the door opened so nothing had stopped the cat from getting in. The golden canary found its companion dead, its bed torn and its food gone.

With nothing left the golden canary landed in front of the cat, blood still fresh on its fangs and it asked ‘Why?’ To which the cat answered ‘Because you left the door open… and because I could.’ The cat then pounced and killed the golden canary, leaving nothing but an empty cage in a quiet room.”

Charlie was just staring at her father as he finished his story and discarded the rose in the bucket too.

“Dad, that was horrible.” He cocked his head towards his daughter.

“The universe is horrible, Charlotte. What you think best, is often just a way to hasten your own downfall.” 

“So you’re telling me that I’m a golden canary? Then I better watch out for any giant cats.”

“It was just a story daughter. If you take anything from it, that's up to you.” 

“So tell me, oh grand storyteller. What should I do?” 

“You love her?” Lucifer had stood up and was starting to gather his gardening supplies, Charlie was watching him work. 

“... Yes.”

“Have you shown her how much?” Charlie looked uncomfortable and Lucifer’s eyes locked onto her worried face. 

“No, kind of the opposite… I didn’t want to love her, but I was just…”

“Lying to yourself?” Lucifer finished and Charlie nodded sheepishly. 

“Then perhaps Charlotte, Vagatha needs to be reminded of how much you do? I’d suggest something big and perhaps daughter of mine, you might find your direction too.” Charlie sighed.

“Thanks dad, I think.” She hardly knew if his advice was useful, but at least he was there to listen. Lucifer had picked everything up and was walking past Charlie still on the ground.

“Stay for a bit, you might find perspective.” He continued to walk away.

“Bye… dad.” he never responded and was quickly out of view. Charlie listened to the noise of the rustling leaves, and another calming waft of flowery fragrances caressed her senses, she let out a gentle sigh and found that her body had become sluggish, it was warm, soft and comfortable on the grass, she soon found herself lulled into a nap. 

***

Broken was sat at the head of the table, the large dominating chair she was on stretched out like a great flying beast, around the table there were several smaller plain looking chairs with figures sat on them, three others in total. The one directly opposite Broken was rapping her fingers against the wood, it was echoing around the room and clearly displayed their annoyance. 

Broken sighed and played with her horns, waiting for someone to break the silence it certainly wasn’t going to be her. Charlie continued to rap against the wood and the pattern was getting faster, whilst she looked ‘normal’ her displeasure at being opposite Broken was plain on her face, and she was scowling. The third figure was an exact copy of Charlie expect all her colours were reversed, it gave her the impression of being a neon patchwork doll, she was looking nervously at Broken, of course the last time Me had spoken out Broken had forcibly silenced her. Finally, the last filled seat was a most regally dressed figure, tiara made of gentle flames floated about her head, she seemed to be the most at peace out of all of them, it was Princess who spoke first.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 

“Erm, why are we all here?” Me spoke timidly out and jumped when Charlie stopped tapping on the table and slammed a formed fist down before pointing at Broken and shouting.

“Because, she’s fucked everything up!” 

Broken rolled her eyes and sneered.

“I did what I needed to survive!” 

Charlie folder her arms and looked away.

“It’s not just about survival… So go on then Broken why are we all here?” 

“We might all think differently but I think we can all agree that we care about Vaggie, right?” The other two nodded apart from Charlie who was just staring Broken down, who ignored Charlie and kept talking.

“I can’t be what she wants me to be, so I need help.” There was silence, a few moments later it was broken by Charlie’s harsh laugh.

“Boo fucking hoo, I tried to help and you just ignored me!” Broken sighed and massaged her temple with a clawed hand.

“That was then, and this is now. Listen all of you! I did what I needed to make sure we stayed alive.”

“Y-You mean after you locked us away?” Me was glancing at Broken, playing with her dark hair in-between her fingers.

“Yes… It was easiest, and I was the strongest, I pulled us out of a dark place. All of us! Despite all of your abuse… don’t think I’ve forgotten how you treated me before. All of you, do any of you want to die? Me?”

“No…”

“Princess?”

“No.”

“Charlie?”

“FUCK YOU! I never wanted to die, you were the one who made me think about it! Whispering words that I was useless and better off gone!” Broken gripped down on the arms of her chair hard enough that she was scraping a groove in the wood.

“Well I don’t want that any more I changed, so I guess that’s a no from you too.” Broken turned to the others and continued.

“We enjoy the existence we have, pain gives us a thrill! That’s there to stay but I can’t maintain a relationship like this, so I need you… All of you, doesn’t Vaggie deserve the best we can offer?” Princess looked around the room and gently played with the edges of her flowing gown.

“Weakest divided, strongest united?” Broken nodded.

“Exactly, I’m not saying someone else takes over, we’re all important, or we’ll just get this over and over again… we die, or they die, or we die, or they die… it’s endless and needs to stop.”

“I-I think it c-could work… Charlie?” Me was looking directly at the scowling blonde with her black eyes wide. 

“I despise you, thinking you’re one of us… but Vaggie needs us more than I hate you… fine.” Broken sharp toothed grin flashed outwardly.

“Finally, something we can agree on… I think you all need bigger chairs.” 

***

Charlie’s eyes snapped open, and she sat bolt upright the smell of the sweet grass filling her nose again. It was like a filter had been lifted, everything had more colour, the grass was greener the flowers were brighter and the smell seemed more intense. She let out a giggle, and her mouth felt odd, hand reached up didn’t feel the sharp point of fangs. Almost panicked she reached higher and patted her head, no horns either. Taking a few deep breaths she closed her eyes and with a flick of her wrist her hand ignited and flames licked up her elbow harmlessly. She could feel her horns rising and expelling the remaining air in her lungs the fire went out and her horns disappeared once more. 

Spinning around she laughed, head tilted high. Stopping quickly she almost toppled over dizzy, Charlie bent over and smelt from one of the pink flowers nearby, it was so sweet and delicate and her smile felt a mile wide. She picked it and placed the pink petalled thing behind her ear and tucked it behind her hair. She skipped through the garden before a silly thought crossed her mind, going into a quick run she tried to cartwheel, of course the last time she had done that was when she was six, her hand Slipped, and she went head over heels before landing harshly on her back.

“Oww…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter happens at the same time as its twin 'Radio Demons Advice Part Two'.... Stay tuned.


	43. Radio Demons Advice Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie gets some 'advice'

Alastor needed to stop this, having long lay-ins. It was making him lazy, laying face up in bed, he should have been up hours ago… not that he was going to do anything with his morning, after all he couldn't risk his image being any more damaged, his arm and shoulder were still stiff but at least his skin looked healed, Alastor looked normal he just didn’t feel it.

He glanced down at the reason he was still in bed, it was a very good reason at least, Angel was still curled around him, head resting on his chest and arms wrapped around Alastor’s stomach, the spider was sleeping soundly. Angels’ pillow was untouched he almost always slept on Alastor, not that the radio demon minded, he was incredibly soft after all and Alastor enjoyed the warmth. 

Alastor’s eyes snapped towards the door as someone knocked from the other side, Angel’s brow furrowed, and he mumbled something. Alastor reached down and carefully untangled Angel around him and slid out of the bed. It left Angel on the bed alone, and he started wiggling in place almost as if he was looking for Alastor’s in his sleep. The radio demon quickly slipped on his shirt and started buttoning it, he winced as he injured arm moved, so he slowed down and was able to do the rest without his body complaining. A second set of knocks sounded out and Alastor growled with frustration.

_ Impatient. _

“One moment.” 

Getting his trousers on he gave one cursory glance to make sure everything was neat and in place, he left his suit jacket off and moved to open the door. Angel groaned, finally awake and started to rub sleep from his eyes.

“Hey… Alastor, you busy?” Vaggie was standing in the hallway, she tried to downplay it but looked nervous, worry was plain on her face. 

“No my dear, you’ve caught me in the middle of nothing. Can I assist you with something?” Vaggie fidgeted slightly.

“Could we talk?”

“We’re talking right now.”

“I meant inside.” Alastor turned his head back towards the room.

“Angel, do you mind if we have a visitor?” Angel grinned even though he couldn’t see Alastor round the corner.

“Vaggie? Sure, she’s seen me in worse positions.” His laugh followed his reply and Alastor stepped to one side and ushered Vaggie inside before shutting the door. Vaggie took a look at Angel, now sat up in the bed with sheets covering himself, she took a look back at Alastor, and he answered as if reading her mind.

“I trust Angel won’t speak of this to anyone either, right?” His gaze flittered to the spider who smiled and mimed zipping up his lips with his fingers.

“Not a word toots.” Vaggie smiled weakly before taking a seat on the edge of the bed, her legs were starting to feel weak again. 

“I think you were right about Charlie… I don’t know what to do.” Nothing would have been more satisfying than a big ‘I told you so’. Alastor held his tongue, it would have been for his benefit only, he felt smug enough just thinking it. 

“Tell me what happened.” In a fluid sweep he moved across the room and sat down in a chair and peered over at the grey skinned soul sat on the bed, she seemed lost. 

“A couple of nights ago, Charlie came to see me, really early in the morning. She was so drunk...” Angel sat bolt upright and both Vaggie and Alastor looked over, Vaggie’s look was one of surprise but the radio demon already knew, Angel had told him about his night out, and he was less than impressed as he had warned Angel about Charlie’s ‘tendencies’.

“That shouldn’t have happened…” Angel looked confused.

“What?” 

“Charlie went out with me that night, we had a few drinks… she got fuckin’ wasted, but she err, she went off with someone else… I thought she was gunna be comin’ back the next day, if you know… what I mean.” Vaggie felt sick,

“Who was it?” Angel shrugged in response.

“I dunno, some lady she pointed out… I wonder what happened to her?”

“I think I know…” Vaggie spoke darkly and softly. That got Alastor’s attention.

“Charlie told you about her physical exploits?” Vaggie spun round and stared at him, anger flashed across her face.

“You knew!? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Would you have believed me? You ignored my warnings about her already.” Vaggie closed her mouth, Alastor had a point, she knew that. 

“Yeah… fine, you’re probably right.” Alastor flashed a smile.

“Please continue my dear, what did Charlie do?” Vaggie took another deep breath in.

“She kept saying things, and she did things…” Angel frowned, he felt like somehow this was his fault, maybe he should have just said no and not gone out with her. 

“What did she say?” Alastor was pressing for more information, anything to help him piece together whatever Charlie was turning into, Vaggie just closed her eye and shook her head.

“Fine, then what is bothering you?”

“She sounded hollow, it wasn’t like it used to be… I don’t know what she’s done, I don’t know what she’s going to do.” Vaggie looked on the verge of a panic attack, Alastor rolled his eyes.

“Firstly, keep your breathing steady you’re no use talking to me if you’re just going to hyperventilate all over the place. Secondly, you still need to explain what you want from me.” Vaggie took a few breaths and out before she continued.

“Sorry, Do you think I should let Charlie back in here permanently?” Alastor’s answer was clear cut.

“No.” 

“But she…”

“You asked for my opinion and you have it, no I do not believe she would do any good staying here, not for you, myself or any of your ‘precious’ guests.”

“Why?” Vaggie knew Alastor spoke sense but why did it hurt so much, even discussing the idea of discarding Charlie made her stomach hurt.

“Because my dear, she is a monster, I mean you have had constant worries about me and I’m sure you still do, in fact if you didn’t I would be insulted, but Charlie has less restraint than me, she kills who she wants, she beds souls when she wants and usually it ends up being a combination of those two things, she blew up a building, I rummaged through the wreckage, it was cataclysmic.”

“Stop… please, I get the point.” Vaggie sighed and rubbed her eye. Angel looked between Alastor and Vaggie before speaking up.

“I dunno if it’s that…”

“What?” Both of them spoke at once, Angel instantly looked uncomfortable.

“Hey, look… so me and Charlie spoke about a few things and… well I promised I wouldn’t talk about what, but she looked kinda sad when she spoke. Maybe she’s just hurtin’ and can’t deal with it very well?” 

“Angel… you know what she did to me, yes?” Alastor was staring straight at the pink porn star, he shuffled around but didn’t break eye contact.

“Yeah I know that shit was bad, but Smiles what were you doin’ with Charlie anyway? Pretty sure you had said you snuck up on her.” Alastor didn’t respond, damn Angel could be attentive at times. 

“Oh good, so I’ve got one person saying I should get rid of her and one person saying she’s in pain, I still don’t know what to do!”

“Sorry toots, looks like its all on you.” Alastor shook his head.

“I’m sure you’ll make up your own mind eventually and ignore all our advice anyway.”

“Thanks shitlord. This was unhelpful”

“You’re welcome!” Angel sing-song sarcastic response got a smile out of Vaggie at least. She stood up.

“Well thanks for trying, I’ll just figure this out by myself.” She headed for the door and when opening it didn’t look back.

“Enjoy the rest of your day…” She was gone. 

“Maybe I should have a nap, that might make me feel better?... Probably not.” She headed towards her room anyway and getting inside, flopped on the bed, this day had been exhausting and it was barely half-way done. She closed her eye and found sleep surprisingly easy, she drifted off. 

***

She woke suddenly to a knock and a flurry of footsteps as someone was running down the hall outside her room, checking her phone it had been two hours since she came back.

“Fuck…” Vaggie sat up and stretched, she didn’t know what that noise was about outside, but she was grateful that it at least work her up. She opened the door and her mouth fell open. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter, but the next one is well on its... gunna be a good one.


	44. One Big Romantic Gesture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie gets surprised.

On the ground in front of her door lay colourful flower petals, shades of violets blues and purples arranged into a pattern of an arrow pointing down the hall. Vaggie looked in the direction it pointed and couldn’t see anything. A smile crept across her face but the anxious worry still felt like a lead weight in her stomach. She sighed and closed her door deciding to see where this would inevitably lead, stepping down the corridor Vaggie turned the corner and found another pattern resting on the floor, this time a dark red and orange.

“Am I getting warmer?” She shook her head, the stupid smile was still there. Another arrow directed her onwards, and she had already guessed where this was going to lead her. Another corner, another corridor and there it was just like she thought, Multiple little arrows all made out of yellow and white flowers pointed in a semicircle towards Charlie’s hotel room door. 

“Of course it is…” The door was slightly ajar already, and Vaggie just stood in front of it perfectly still. 

_ Should I even be here? _

Was playing Charlie’s game just enabling her? Or was this something just for Vaggie… a gift. Her heart clenched in her chest again, and she felt like she could cry, she had never been so uncertain in her life. What was going to be on the other side of the door, a monster or a lover? With what felt like the weight of the world pressing down on her Vaggie reached her hand up and slowly pushed the door open.

The room beyond was shadowy and dark, the window had been completely blacked out and the only light sources were the flickering of candles spread out throughout on small trays resting on small saucers on the floor or on the desk. It caused lengthy shadows to twitch and writhe in the corners, a trail of petals led from the entrance and seemed to twist its way into the bathroom, the door to which was shut. She took a deep breath in placed one foot inside the room, stepping inside she was greeted by the soft scents or roses and lavender, the candles were all scented. Taking another step she was fully inside the room and pushed the door closed, it clicked on the lock, she looked around but Charlie was nowhere to be seen Vaggie assumed she would locate the blonde in the bathroom.

One hand resting on her other wrist she cautiously moved through the room. She felt tense like something or someone was going to jump out at any point. Careful to avoid the candles on the floor she walked over until she stood before the bathroom door. Another pause… more indecision. Something rattled nearby and Vaggie head turned quickly to look at where the sound had come from.

_ The wardrobe? _

Glancing at it, the door was shaking slightly and rattled again, actually concentrating Vaggie swore she could hear something muffled inside it, leaving the bathroom alone she moved to face the piece of furniture. The floor creaked as she stood in front of it and just as she raised a hand to open it Charlie’s muffled voice sounded out.

“Erm… no one’s in here…” The tension broke immediately and Vaggie snorted,

“Well then Ms Wardrobe why is your door rattling?” There was a pause and Vaggie could hear someone shuffling around inside. 

“... Because Ms Wardrobe is excited for you to go in the bathroom… maybe you should do that? You know, instead of talking to furniture.” Vaggie rolled her eye.

“Only because you asked so nicely.” She could hear giggling coming from inside the wardrobe and shook her head. Stepping away she took one last look at the wardrobe before opening the door to the bathroom, it clicked and squeaked open. Revealing the end of petals and a small box lying on the floor at its conclusion, It was wrapped in red and gold paper with a large bow on its top, a small card lay face up. Candles were again lining the sink and set the whole room with a soft glow, approaching she bent down and picked up the small card.

**XXX**

**This is my Confession.**

**As dark as I am,**

**I will always find enough light**

**To adore you to pieces,**

**With all of my pieces.**

**XXX**

Vaggie clutched it close to her chest and let out a ragged breath, it felt like her heart was melting, and suddenly the scents and vapours in the air were becoming much headier and thick, Vaggie’s head had begun to swim, she was feeling vulnerable and emotions were running hot, she quickly sat down on her knees in a crouched position, if she had stayed standing she probably would have collapsed, she tried taking a few more calming breaths to no avail so with a trembling hand she dragged the box closer and noticing how the bow was just stuck to the top, took the lid off. 

Inside there were two items the first and at the top was a photo, picking it up out of the box Vaggie looked at it, It was of Charlie and Vaggie, Charlie was grinning like a lunatic with one hand holding around Vaggie’s waist pulling to stand beside her, her other hand was shaped liked half a heart and pressed against Vaggie’s hand mirroring the same, the grey soul looked so unimpressed. It was so cliché. Vaggie smiled weakly it felt like an eternity ago, Charlie had argued so hard that they take that photo, Vaggie remembered Charlie practically vibrating with excitement when they had done it, she had rolled her eye at the whole thing but inside she was so happy that it made Charlie smile so much, After the photo was taken Charlie had almost smothered her with kisses. Thinking on it, it was such a precious memory of the two of them… just Charlie being, well… Charlie. 

Placing the photo down, Vaggie inspected the other item, it was delicate and pooled at the bottom was a tiny silvery chain, reaching in she lifted it and as the chain uncoiled it revealed the tiny pendant underneath, placing it in the palm of her hand, the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile as she sniffed, she had started crying.

“So...goofy.” It was a puffy white cloud with half a rainbow emerging from it cut down the middle in a zigzag. It looked like something a child would wear… and Vaggie loved it. There was a small noise behind her and Vaggie quickly dried her eye with her sleeve before standing and turning to face Charlie standing by the bathroom door. She was already wearing the other half of the rainbow, a bouquet of orange and red flowers in her hands. There was a moment of silence,

“Hi…” Charlie gave a nervous smile, Vaggie was staring wide-eyed,

“C-Charlie?” No horns, no red eyes and no fangs. Vaggie took a tentative step closer.

_ Is this real? _

“Is this you Charlie?” Charlie’s soft eyes were reflecting some of the candlelight, she nodded slowly.

“It’s me, Vaggie… I got you these.” She held up the flowers, Vaggie reached out to take them and simply let the flowers drop to the floor, Charlie’s eyes darted to them quickly but quickly snapped back up to Vaggie who had reach out the hand that she had used to grab the flowers and rested it upon Charlie’s cheek, She was staring so intensely into Charlie’s eyes it made the blonde nervous.

“I might have overdone the flowers…” Vaggie wasn’t looking away, or even blinking, and she had edged closer, hand still holding onto Charlie’s face.

“I liked them.” A warmth was spreading across Charlie’s face, Vaggie paused before continuing “Charlie, tell me… please, are you staying this way? Like… you.” 

“I think so… It makes you happy… and I want that more than an-” Vaggie had closed the distance in an instance and was pressing her lips against Charlie, hand moved round her face to hold the back of Charlie’s neck. Euphoria was spreading from her tingling lips down into her stomach and Charlie wrapped arms around Vaggie’s middle. When they finally parted Vaggie’s cheeks were flushed red and Charlie was panting. 

“Don’t ever leave me again.” Vaggie tone spoke of her seriousness but Charlie smiled through it.

“Never, it would leave me with a broken rainbow…” Vaggie’s eye drifted down to where Charlie’s pendant sat, hers was still clutched in her other hand. It was like something had snapped inside her, and she lunged into another kiss, they both half stumbled back into the bedroom. She clawed at Charlie’s back as she pressed in for a deep open-mouthed kiss. Vaggie’s anxiety, her tension and worries had melted away and were replaced with a burning desire, no… it was stronger than a desire it was a need. Vaggie needed to consummate this relationship, it had pushed all other rational thoughts aside as she moved both her and Charlie to the bed, the blonde seemed to enjoy being caught up in the tornado that was Vaggie’s passions and just moved as she was directed.

Vaggie’s foot connected with something, and she had kicked over one of the candles. She had to break apart from Charlie’s mouth to look down.

“Shit…” Charlie looked like she had been hit by a train and her chest was heaving.

“Don’t w-worry” With a flick of her hand all the candles went out, plunging them both into blackness, Vaggie didn’t need to see for the next part, not when she could feel the warm body pressed up against her. They both fell back onto the bed and Vaggie had started to kiss along Charlie’s neck earning whimpers of approval and pleasure. Vaggie’s hand was getting clammy, and she realized she actually  **did** need to see, so she could put her necklace down somewhere.

“Charlie, I need a light… my necklace…” 

“S-sure.” There was a snap and a little flame hovered a few inches above Charlie's fingers it Illuminated the bed enough that Vaggie could reach over and place hers pendant on the bed side table, using this opportunity she leant over to undo the clasp that help Charlie’s on when she noticed that Charlie’s pupils had gone yellow instead of black with the tiniest amount of red bleeding around them.

“Your eyes.” Charlie offered up a soft smile, her chest was still moving heavily and it looked like her whole body was trembling.

“Yeah… When I use my power.” Vaggie continued to undo the clasp and freeing the thin chain carefully put it next to her one. The light went out and both pairs of hands were on the other one trying to untie, unbutton or just tear off clothes. Garments were being thrown everywhere and it was a damn good thing there wasn’t any more open flames in the room. Charlie was pressed against her back on the bed with Vaggie looming over her in the darkness, soft legs were wrapping themselves around Vaggie who leant in and kissed at Charlie’s shoulder, with a hand Vaggie ran it up Charlie’s chest and paused and lifted her head away., even with light contact she could feel Charlie’s heart, it felt like something was trying to punch its way past her ribs, and it was unbelievably rapid.

“Are you okay Charlie?” 

“I… I Need this” She squeezed her legs around Vaggie, hands grabbing onto her shoulder blades. “I’ve missed you so fucking much!” Vaggie responded by lowering her head and biting into the crook of her neck, Charlie practically screamed,

“Oh fffuck! YES!” One of Charlie’s hands had moved to hold the back of Vaggie’s head and keep her biting down, Vaggie planted several kissed before biting down again earning a hiss from Charlie as she had started to gyrate her hips. Vaggie let out a gasp as her back arched, Charlie was running fingernails down her spine. She grabbed Charlie’s face and pulled her in for another kiss, it was clumsy and messy, the darkness impeding her aim slightly not that either of them cared. 

Running a hand down Charlie’s front palm down Vaggie felt across Charlie’s stomach moving down, the closer she got to Charlie’s arousal the more the blonde's breath seemed to hitch, and inches away she seemed to completely tense up in anticipation, muscles pressing tightly against skin. Their lips parted as Vaggie hovered so close, Charlie whined out,

“P-Please... Plea-... fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuck.” It was slick as Vaggie had inserted a finger and curled it around Charlie’s insides… both of her legs were shaking as she let out a long gasping moan, she hadn’t been lying, it seemed like she was starved for Vaggie’s touch. There was no frantic rush, instead Vaggie settled for a slow and powerful rhythm, she tried to move in for another kiss but Charlie seemed to not be responding and her lips failed to meet, instead the blonde was just gasping and clutching desperately at her lover. 

There was a burning inferno working its way through Vaggie’s insides, she desperately wanted relief too, but wasn’t going to rush, and holding back would just make it better later. Vaggie shuffled down to kiss around Charlie’s neck and collar, the blondes legs fell from around Vaggie and fell apart, it seemed Charlie couldn’t move her legs any more, so Vaggie ran her free hand and gently gripped a thigh. Beads of sweat were forming all over the immobile princess and strands of her hair were sticking down to her. Charlie moved her hands from Vaggie and started clutching at the bedding underneath her, knuckles turning white as she gripped as tight as she could. Letting out a final cry everything started to shut down, her lungs halted and every muscle was contracting, despite being in darkness she was almost certain she couldn’t see any more. Even her heart had seemed to have frozen. It started as a tiny trickle of feelings, before it multiplied and overlapped rushing and flooding down from her head, as it passed her heart it seemed to restart and her lungs drew in a huge lung full of air before she expelled it almost immediately in a scream, her climax was unbelievable and as the feeling rushed back all of her seemed to be convulsing. Vaggie had paused and withdrew her hand allowing Charlie to fully enjoy the afterglow. 

“I love y-ou!” She managed to gasp out into the darkness. Vaggie’s breathy response sent shivers down Charlie’s neck.

“Show me.” Her limbs seemed to almost protest being moved but Charlie had slid over and had her hands resting Vaggie’s body down where she once lay, Hells Vaggie’s body was warm, With a quick movement Charlie pushed her sweaty hair back across and behind her ears before placing a trail of kisses on Vaggie’s chest, Vaggie didn’t know what to do with her hands so just gripped onto her own side. Charlie wasn’t slowing down as she lowered body, placing kisses around Vaggie’s stomach she had her hands gripping either side of Vaggie’s hips and the grey soul let out a gasp and bit her lip as he felt Charlie's face disappear off her stomach, She didn’t need much encouragement as Charlie nuzzled in-between her thighs and spread her legs. 

A tongue met wet flesh and Vaggie almost lost her mind, sure Cherri Bomb had been good but Charlie  **knew** Vaggie, she knew what she loved and what drove her mad, and she had missed this intimate connection so very much, Vaggie cried out again and again as Charlie flicked and twisted. Charlie was feeding off the emotions and energy that Vaggie was giving off, she couldn't help herself and slid a hand down to play with her own body, Vaggie getting off was exciting her too much to just leave it. The pair of them moaned and gasped together Vaggie hands had found something to do and reached out, clutching onto Charlie’s hair. Her eye was closed and her mouth opened, she just let each feeling and emotion resonate outwards, something was pushing its way through her emotions, passed the passions and lust Vaggie felt a joy that had almost been forgotten. She was so happy and it didn’t matter that tears were slipping down her cheek to wet the bed.

Vaggie cried out again and her grip tightened, she came hard and Charlie matched, grunting out quietly as her hand stopped its frantic pace. Charlie rolled over and lay still, as both of their panting began to calm down, Charlie could finally hear Vaggie’s quiet sob as she continued to cry. Panicked Charlie scrambled up the bed to get to her.

“Vaggie? You okay?” She couldn’t see her face and with a snap a small flame floated above the two naked bodies, Charlie’s worried face was illuminated, but before she could look at Vaggie the grey soul had rolled over and pressed herself against Charlie, she cried openly against her and gently gripped her arms, fingers pressing down on her skin.

“I n-never thought… I’d have you b-back! And I a-almost lost you t-twice. I’m so h-happy.” Charlie’s face softened,

“Oh, Vaggie.” She held her and quietly waited for her to calm down. It didn’t take long and soon Vaggie had let go and was wiping her eye, she sniffed and laughed.

“Sorry I ruined the ending…” Charlie smiled at her, puffy eye and runny nose, Vaggie was still beautiful.

“You didn’t ruin a thing.” Vaggie rolled to face away from Charlie and shuffled backwards into her, she wanted to be the little spoon and Charlie was happy to oblige. 

“Thank you…” Vaggie spoke as if from a dream, Charlie extinguished the hovering flame and nuzzled into her.

“What for?”

“... For coming back to me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The small poem was written by Johnny Nguyen and It felt too perfect not to use, I've been waiting for a time to use it.


	45. Well, This is Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Vaggie discuss and sore subject, then they pay an overdue visit to another resident.

Vaggie’s eyes snapped open, she was drenched with sweat, it was a good thing she hadn’t continued to cry out like in her dream or else Charlie would have woken up, The blonde was still happily asleep and holding onto Vaggie, one arm wrapped around her middle and her face pressed against Vaggie’s back. 

She tried to take a few steadying breaths but it wasn’t helping to calm her down, she twitched and Charlie mumbled something in her sleep and moved her arm around across Vaggie’s stomach, the touch was electrifying. Vaggie had been dreaming about her experience with Charlie a few hours ago, reliving it over and over. She screwed her eye shut, this made her feel like a horny teenager again, it was frankly embarrassing. Charlie’s hot breath was slow and steady and spread across her bare back and it certainly wasn’t helping her pent-up state.

She carefully lifted the sheets and folded them over, revealing just her body. The air kissed her skin and started cooling her down, it was a sweet relief but not enough, every tiny movement of her legs made the heat between her thighs ache. Vaggie needed relief, and she desperately needed it now, sliding a hand in-between her legs she bit down and prayed that she wouldn’t disturb Charlie. It barely lasted sixty seconds before Vaggie had to hold her breath and try with all her might to steady her spasms. With one long shaky exhale she finally felt the rushing and afterglow and could settle down again. Charlie murmured something again and nuzzled in her back. Vaggie really hoped the sheets would dry off quickly, otherwise it looked like she had wet the bed. The thought made her smile as she yawned and settled back down. 

When Charlie woke, it was of course still pitch black in the room although by the light creeping around the edges of her blackout it was clearly morning. Mumbling she let go of Vaggie who was sleeping on her front, entire body out of the sheets. Rolling over Charlie reached and turned on the bedside light before turning back, this time she was going to gently wake Vaggie, to make up for all the times she used to get woken up. She froze when she turned back. Vaggie’s hair was still shorter than normal just coming past her shoulder blades, but it was her back… Charlie hadn’t seen it. It was still smooth, else she surely would have noticed when she touched it last night, but it was discoloured, patches of lighter skin spread all over it in a disgusting patchwork of scared tissue. It was from her shoulder blades and even the base of her neck, across her shoulders and it went all the way down to her behind, Charlie felt a tremendous amount of guilt at what she had done. 

She still wanted to wake Vaggie, but could no longer face touching her back, instead she gently rocked her arm.

“V-Vaggie, its morning time…” Vaggie stirred and moved her head, eye fluttering open she smiled blearily at Charlie.

“Morning, Hey… usually you’re the bed head,” Charlie forced a weak smile

“Looks like I lucked out today.” Vaggie lent in for a kiss and Charlie for just a moment hesitated. 

  
“Charlie, What’s wrong?” The blonde froze up for a moment before here eyes darted at Vaggie’s back again.

“Does, does it hurt?” Vaggie looked at her softly realizing that Charlie probably hadn’t seen it before. 

“Not really, I don’t feel it anyway, sometimes I surprise myself when I see it in a mirror.” This didn't seem to calm Charlie down, and she looked disgustingly at her own hands.

“How could I have done that to you. How could you even think about being near me?” Vaggie looked at her sternly and answered almost straight away.

“Charlie, listen to me and answer honestly… If I didn’t get myself burned would you be here now? Would you feel guilt about the things you did? Would anything have changed if I had just run away instead?”

Charlie took a long moment to think about it.

“I think, if you had left… I wouldn’t have come here… I would still be out there, I wouldn’t have come to terms with my love for you.”

“See, Look it doesn’t hurt any more and I don’t care what it looks like as long as I got you back as a result. Okay?”

“... Okay.” She didn’t sound convinced, and she certainly didn’t feel it. Vaggie held onto Charlie’s shoulders and held her hard against her back as she sat herself up and leant over the blonde, she lowered her head and captured a kiss.

“I missed these,” Vaggie kissed again, and Charlie hummed. “Yeah.” 

“Charlie, If I was to take a shower and ask you to wash my back because my hair would get in the way, what would you say?” Charlie could have cried and her heart fluttered.

“I would say that you should get a long brush instead of using me as a washing slave, but then I’d do it anyway.” Vaggie smiled down at her,

“Well, do you want to take a shower?”

“Of course I do.”

***

“This is going to be soooo awkward Vaggie!” Charlie didn’t like this idea but was still being led by her hand down the corridors of the hotel. Vaggie looked understanding. 

“I know hun, but you really need to see him, we need to let him know that you’re staying here.” 

“I guess, but why do you care so much anyway, Alastor was always a dick!” Vaggie gave her hand a squeeze as they continued their walk.

“Yeah, but once you get used to him… being the way he is, it’s not so bad.” Charlie looked astounded

.

“What?”

“Charlie, after you… well you know. Alastor made sure I was okay, he helped me in more ways than I’ll ever tell him and honestly if he wasn’t around I probably would have done something really stupid…”

“Oh Vaggie, I could see you were upset, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” 

“Charlie you were feeling bad too, I don’t expect you to shoulder all of my problems, anyway are you ready?”

“I guess.” 

Vaggie reached out and knocked on the door, a few moments later Angel opened and smiled at Vaggie before shifting his eyes towards the blonde who smiled weakly and waved a hand.

“Hi, Ang-” The spider slammed the door shut, Charlie looked confused at Vaggie who shrugged they could her Angel’s shouting on the other side.

“Hey Smiles?”

“What?”

“Charlie is at the door!”

“What!?”

“What should I do?”

“Well, don’t let her  _ in! _ ” 

Vaggie rolled her eye and Charlie doubled over with the giggles. Vaggie bent down and whispered to Charlie,

“Do you want to tell them or should I?” Charlie was trying to keep herself from laughing out loud too much and had clamped her mouth shut tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Vaggie pulled out her master key and unlocked the door she pushed it open, expecting Angel to be on the other side, turns out he had moved closer to talk with Alastor. Vaggie shrugged,

“Sorry, but this is happening now.” Charlie followed in behind her, stepping into the room, Alastor was standing in the corner and looked like he was on guard like a cornered wild animal and Angel and slunk back to a different wall, both of them staring at Charlie’s normal form, as she smiled awkwardly forward… there was silence. Alastor hated silence and spoke first,

“Charlie, what a surprise… I see that you’re different from when I last saw you…” Charlie flashed a mischievous smile.

“What, not naked and in the shower?” Vaggie went very stiff.

“Wait? WHAT! What were you doing to Charlie in the shower Alastor?!” Alastor rolled his eyes,

“Oh please, it was nothing like that and as I recall Charlie provided an adequate response…” 

“I certainly did, I don’t like being spied on, especially by you.”

“Noted, and as I’m sure you are aware I’ve made no further attempts to pry into your business,”

“Yes, I have noticed Alastor… and why is that exactly?” He flashed a dangerous smile.

“Some things are just not worth the trouble my dear.” The silence descended again, and no one moved. 

“So… I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m not quite as angry as before…” She pointed to eyes and flashed them her lack of fangs in a large smile.

“Kinda hard to miss toots,” Angel spoke from across the room. Charlie flashed him a smile.

“Listen I know it’s a bit tense, but I just want to clear the air… I’m not quite the same as I was, I’ve been dealing with a lot of my issues in an unhealthy way I know…” She straightened up and looked Alastor in the eyes.

“Alastor, you’ve helped Vaggie when I couldn’t so for that, thank you… Now I think we can both agree to not wanting to spend that much time around each other, but you being here is fine… I’m not going to just attack you, just stay out of mine, Vaggie’s and the hotels business and there won’t be any problems. Sound reasonable?” Alastor had nothing to really lose by agreeing, he was going to avoid Charlie as much as possible and certainly wouldn’t poke his nose in any more of her business, he also wasn't going to drop his guard any time soon either.

“Sounds reasonable my dear…”

“Oh Good, hey Vaggie it wasn’t so bad!” She beamed at the grey soul. It was still awkward in the room, but Charlie seemed to be ignoring it. Alastor suddenly picked up his smile.

“In fact, my dear I have some information that might be useful.”

“What’s that?”

“When me and Angel attended a party that his boss was hosting, Valentino made a passing remark that he was interested in working business into the hotel, since Charlie was ‘gone’ but I reminded him that it was Vaggie’s property now, but he seemed rather insistent.” A shudder ran though Charlie suddenly, Alastor cocked his head to one side and looked at her.

“Sorry, got a chill all of a sudden. Oh okay, thanks Alastor… I might have to pay Valentino a visit and just clear things up with him.” She smiled as Vaggie gave her a worried look.

“Charlie, you sure that’s a good idea?” She gave Vaggie a playful punch in the arm.

“Don’t worry, It’ll just be for a chat… just, so he knows I’m back… then I should probably call up 666 news and let them know too, can't just keep this a secret between us any more right.”

Vaggie nodded and smiled, now that Charlie had picked up a bit she seemed just like her old self, making plans and moving forwards. 

“Sure, hun. Need any help?” Charlie gave her quick peck on the cheek.

“No thanks, Listen I’m going to go do that now whilst I’m all energized and motivated, thanks for seeing us Alastor, Angel.” She waved them off and left almost as suddenly as she arrived. 

“Charlie you sure you don’t need any help?” Vaggie was turning to face her.

“Promise, who’s my rainbow?” Vaggie clutched at her shirt, the pendant laying just underneath. She blushed hard.

“I am…” She moved up quickly and kissed the blonde before she could completely leave.

“Be safe, okay?” Charlie gave another mischievous smile.

“Aren’t I always?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter Chapter than normal but the final one is coming up.
> 
> Also I had the biggest shit eating grin putting in that door reference... I'm not sorry.


	46. The Final Deal.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie has a few Chores to get on with, and she has a good talk with her dad.
> 
> This chapter might seem a bit longer than the others... I mean it is, but I needed to all these things in one go :D

She could have taken a taxi, but the air felt fresh and Charlie had a skip in her step. She wanted the walk. Everything was going well, she just a few little niggling things to take care of. Then she could relax and perhaps start working in the hotel again. Her fingers absent-mindedly played with the rainbow around her neck, she couldn’t help but smile. Charlie was almost certain that other souls and the demons on the street were staring at her, some were even taking photos on their hellphones.

_Maybe I won’t need to report this to 666, that’d be nice, Katie’s a bitch._

“There it is!” Valentino’s studio was looming into view, She paused and stretched up into the sky before bending down to touch her toes and then leaning to each side, her back cracked finally, and she sighed in relief. 

_Don’t know how long this talk is going to take._

Confidently stepping towards the door she half halted her approach as one of the many drug vending machines came into view.

“... I have some spare cash…” She took a long last look at the door she was supposed to head towards before sidling over to the machine, looking down all the options she chewed her bottom lip in thought. 

“Just once more… then ill try to stay clean!” She inserted her cash and pressed the button labelled ‘Coke is better than Pepsi’ there was a whirling noise before the machine let a disappointing tone and a message flashed on the display.

‘OUT OF STOCK’ 

“Aww, come on!” She gave it a swift kick in disappointment, she went to press the refund button until she realized there wasn’t one, only a message that said ‘no refunds or returns’

“Oh for fuck sake! I don’t want anything else!” She crossed her arms and huffed before storming off towards Valentino’s

_Stupid machine… Guess I’m going clean now then._

Stopping closer to the door she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before making sure her hair was tidy, and she had a strong friendly smile. Overconfident, she went to push the door open and nearly rammed straight into it, the message on the door had ‘pull’ written on it.

“Oops.” Cheeks flushing with embarrassment she knew that if anyone was filming her now it was probably going to be the clip that 666 news would use. 

_No use crying over spilt milk Charlie_

She stepped inside and making her way over to the front desk, looking around all the decor clearly fitted Valentino, dark reds and white tiger print everywhere. All the furniture looked incredibly comfortable, overstuffed chairs and sofas constituted the waiting area. The receptionist look shocked as Charlie approached with her friendly smile.

“Hi, I’m Charlie and was hope to see Valentino today, is he free?” the receptionist had an opened mouth gawk before he closed it and registered what was just said to him.

“Err, do you have an appointment?” Charlie smile fell slightly.

“Oh no I don’t, I didn’t know you needed one, could you ask him? It’s regarding his recent business offer for my hotel, I’m sure he would want to discuss that.” She smiled again and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. 

“One moment.” He gingerly reached for a phone and pressed a quick dial button.

“Sorry to disturb you, boss I’ve got someone here to see you.”

“-” 

“They say it’s to do with your business with the hotel?”

“-”

“No boss, It’s Charlie…”

“-”

“No boss, The Charlie! Charlotte Magne” 

“-” 

“Of course sir.” He put the phone down and turned back to the patiently waiting princess.

“He’ll see you straight away, take the elevator I’ll unlock the penthouse access for you.” 

“Oh thank you so much!” she swayed back and forth as she found her pace again and moved to the elevator, the doors had already slid open quietly. Charlie stepped in and spotted the lit up button shaped like a heart.

“Must be this one.” She extended a slender finger and pressed it, the doors slid shut, and she started to ascend. A mirror mounted on the back wall allowed Charlie a few moments, she made sure all her clothes were straight and there was nothing in her teeth, last thing she needed was to make a poor impression.

As the doors slid open silently Charlie steeped out and cooed in awe, the views out the large glass walls were amazing, you could see so much of the city from here.

“Charlie!” Valentino’s call was friendly, well at least it seemed friendly. He was grinning, lounging on a couch in the centre of the room but for Charlie he rose to stand to greet her, getting to his full height he was a good one and a half times Charlie’s size and as he moved across the room his large puffy jacket rustled and Charlie had to crane her neck up to look at the eyes behind the heart shaped tints, he held out one of his lower hands to shake, Charlie took it and winced as he crushed it in a vice-like handshake. 

“You are absolutely fantastic at that disappearing act! Everyone thought you were dead! Come let me get you a drink!” He took his upper arm and clamped onto Charlie’s shoulder steering her towards his couch.

“Thank you, but just a small one please.” She smiled at him as he pushed her to a seat opposite his usual sitting place. He moved over and got to a nearby bar and pulled a couple of glasses out from behind it before pulling down a large bottle with some amber coloured liquid in, he poured a very large helping in both glasses and made his way back. Charlie couldn’t help but notice they were the only two in the penthouse… weren’t there normally servants or something? 

_Wasn’t Valentine supposed to like being surrounded by people?_

“Here you are darlin’.” He pressed the glass into her hand.

“Oh, thanks.” She eyed it… it was a lot larger than she had wanted and also was entirely spirit. She took a sip and almost choked on it and coughed loudly. 

“T-hats...str-ong!” Valentino gave a laugh as he took a sip from his own glass seemingly unfazed. 

“It is, if you’re not used to it, very rare vintage. Nothing but the best up here!” 

“I’ll be sure to enjoy it then.” She gave a weak smile and took another sip, it was slightly better the second time but no less rough going down, her head was almost swimming already. 

“That’s great darlin’ so I suppose the question on everyone’s minds right now is, how’d you do it? Fake it… cos I gotta say that was pretty convincing.” His eyes were alight with an intense interest. Charlie went to place her glass down and realized there wasn't a place to put it down in reach, so she just held onto it for now.

“Oh I didn’t fake anything, I just needed a break.” Valentino's head tilted and his eyes narrowed.

“And you could just do that?”

“Well I think it comes from being Princess of Hell.” Charlie had her free hand resting on her thigh, she took another sip. 

“I suppose we could all wish we were born with that sort of privilege.” He spoke with a smile but the venom in his words was unmistakeable, Charlie smile twitched, but she chose to ignore it and continued.

“So I heard about the offer you gave to Alastor whilst I was away.”

“Certainly, I was trying gain on free capital in your absence I’m sure you can understand that,” Charlie nodded.

“Of course, dog-eat-dog and all of that. But surely you must have known that Vaggie would be in charge, why didn’t you approach her?”

“Perhaps it was honest mistake darlin’, Angel-cakes spoke so highly of Alastor I simply had assumed he held a high position within your establishment.” Valentino took another swig his smile still fixed on his face, eyes starting at Charlie who smiled sweetly back, 

“Of course, what with Angel spending all of his time with Alastor and not you, its hardly surprising that _you_ got it wrong.” It was a slow descent, but Valentino’s smile had disappeared.

“Darlin’ I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you hit your head on that concrete pretty hard, but you don't **ever** take that tone with me, Lucifer’s daughter or not, I’ll still smack some respect into you.” His tone was dangerous and his eyes were narrowed. Charlie placed her finger on her chin tapped looking like she was thinking.

“Isn’t that what you do with Angel?” She seemed to be pondering out loud and took another sip of her drink.

“What?” His voice was more like a growl.

“Smack him around and get him to call you… _daddy?”_

***WHACK***

Valentino had a very long reach. Especial when he had conjured a hefty cane to his hand he gripped with the end and used the heavy jewel pommel and stuck Charlie clean across the cheek, her still mostly full glass scattered across the room, and she gasped loudly as her head snapped across from the force of the impact.

“I gave you your fuckin’ warning darlin’, you ain’t all that to get special treatment from me.”

A large gash had appeared on her cheek and Charlie closed her eyes as she clutched a hand to her face. Valentino had risen and was watching the blonde shake slightly as she cradled her face.

“Don’t worry darlin’ I didn’t hit you that hard, It’ll heal up and you’ll still have that pretty face of yours… think it was time you were leaving.” What Valentino hadn’t noticed was the reason why Charlie was shaking, she had her hand to her face but two of her fingers were pressing into the wound hard and twisting. When she opened her eyes to stare at him, she was grinning.

“Thank you,” It was barely above a whisper and before Valentino could answer with a raised eyebrow she lunged straight at him like a tightly wound spring. Valentino was quicker than she was and a second hard strike had her skidding sideways across the floor.

“Now I know I didn’t hit you that hard for you to go fuckin’ loopy on me. Bitch this ain’t gonna be a some pissy catfight like you had on TV.” Charlie coughed and it sounded wet.

“I think… I think you broke one of my ribs!” Charlie was clutching at her side she could feel the crack and small amount of movement her rib gave when she applied pressure, It was delightful. 

“Well fuckin’ learn your god-damn lesson then Dar-” He froze as he heard the throaty gasping laughter start as Charlie clawed her way to feet, finally her eyes had turned a dark red and horns stretched high and as she open-mouthed laughed, row of razor sharp fangs presented themselves. She flexed her clawed hands and finally stopped laughing and grinned like a lunatic straight at Valentino.

He was unfazed, plenty of people had lost it around him, he just didn’t think a single strike would have set her off, no matter. If he had to toss her unconscious body so be it. In fact if he did knock her out he might make a few films first… he could charge a lot for the viewing pleasure of that. Charlie charged first, It was a good thing Valentino was razor sharp he could feel the rush of heat before he registered the sight and sidestepping quickly a flaming fist shot past him as Charlie had thrown herself forward. The intensity caused the fluffy collar of his to wilt slightly, he countered by striking down hard on her elbow as it flew past him, his cane buckled from the heat but the crack that sounded out indicated that the elbow and been broken and her arm flopped down to her side.

Charlie seemed to not notice and span in place to strike out with her other hand, Valentino managed to conjure another cane in his opposite hand and batted her arm away before a great gout of hell fire shot out and punched a hole clear through one of windows. Squared off against each other, Charlie went straight in and attempted to drive horns into his chest but Valentino’s legs were longer, and he kneed her solidly in the stomach Charlie bent over as the wind was forced out of her lungs, Valentino reeled back in pain and shoved Charlie hard away. Looking down his knee was visible, the cloth stripped away and the bare flesh was covered in blisters. The air Charlie was expelling from her lungs was super heated and scalding.

Trying to stay steady on a leg that no longer wanted to support his weight he conjured another Cane that had a very fine point and threw it hard at Charlie, grazing her side only, blood splattered onto the floor, and she let out a gasp of surprise. With that seeming to work he immediately summoned another cane and launched it, Charlie was prepared for this one and a huge wall of fire appeared in front of the and the cane was consumed, it was never clear if it had hit its target.

_How many canes does this pimp own!?_

The wall of fire flickered before rushing forward, Valentino’s eyes went wide as he realized he couldn't get out of the way in time with his knee injured, he stumbled backwards in panic and just as the fire made contact it dissipated revealing Charlie who had been moving with it, and she lunged again and wrapped her arms around him, Valentino lost his balance completely and toppled backwards. As he made contact with the ground Charlie had straddled his chest and was staring straight at him.

“Fucking give up.” She hissed at him, blood dribbling out of her mouth and the cut in her side leaking downwards.

“Fuck you!” Another cane was in his hand at the side of Charlie’s broken and apparently useless arm. Valentino swung upwards, Charlie’s arm wasn’t as useless as Valentino thought and with a horrific snapping noise she moved it and slammed into Valentino’s wrist. She screamed in pain from the broken bone now jutting out of her arm, but it was nothing compared to Valentino’s howl as his caught wrist was exposed to the intense heat that Charlie had conjured, Veins and skin flash fried and the bone underneath crumbled as all the moisture in his marrow evaporated instantly. The cane rolled from his now useless grip.

He screamed again as Charlie lifted her arm and extinguished the fire.

“I’ve… got… three more arms I can do that with…” She panted at him. “If you’re lucky it will heal… good thing you’ll keep your pretty face.”

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!?” He screamed at the slim figured blonde mounting him. Charlie heaving panting calmed as she spoke dangerously quiet. 

“You belong to me now.” 

“W-WHAT?” Her eyes glared with a furious intensity.

“Or else I’m going to film you screaming for mercy at the hands of the silly little princess… Even if you survive you’ll never do business again…” Valentino’s eyes grew wide with fear as he knew everything that he had built was at risk of crumbling. 

“O-Okay, okay!” Charlie’s face twisted into an expression of rage, she bellowed at him

**“YOU BELONG TO ME… FUCKING SAY IT!”** Valentino jumped,

“I-I belong to you! I belong to you!” The dreamy smile that spread across Charlie’s lips was haunting and with her good arm she pulled off Valentino’s crooked glasses, throwing them to one side and lent down and kissed him on the forehead.

“Good boy. Now lets leave with you something to remember me by…” She tore open the top of his rather wilted fluffy collar and exposed his shaking chest. With a single claw she burnt a bright red line that blistered across torso, he screamed again and shut his eyes, happy with her work Charlie staggered to her feet, A single large apple was scarred into his body that wasn’t going to heal, she made sure of it. Taking a step back away from Valentino, the large demon cradled his ruined arm with his other hands and whimpered. 

Charlie could feel the gash in her side already closing and with gritted fangs she jammed the bone in her elbow back in the right place so it could heal quicker. The pain made her light-headed and she laughed again.

“Don't feel so bad Valentino, you put up more of a fight than Alastor did. And you’ve got a mean swing… in a previous life I might just have let you knock me about…” Valentino didn’t respond he was dragging himself backwards and propping himself against one of his glass walls. 

There was a clicking noise as bones begun to bind again. Good, her arm was on the mend.

“And Valentino,”

“Y-Yes-s?” 

“When you address me, It should only be as ma’am”

“S-s-sorry-y Ma-a’am.”

“Good boy, oh one last thing… if you ever **fucking** mention Vaggie again in any of your business dealings I’ll drag your burning body into the streets and let all of your whores take turns fucking you before I put you out of your misery.” 

Valentino couldn’t speak any more and only weakly nodded. Charlie stretched both arms up and her elbow clicked in a very relieving way, Charlie sighed and moved it a little before she was happy it was back to normal. Stepping away from the whimpering wreck of the demon, she took a deep breath and held it until the count of four and released slowly to another count of four. Her pupils returned to normal and her horns disappeared.

She ran a finger over her teeth to double check and smiled to herself as she pressed the call button for the lift. A moment later the doors opened, and she stepped inside pressing the ground floor icon, she tapped her foot and hummed. 

Getting out of the lift she walked back to the receptionist who recoiled in horror at the sight of Charlie.

“Don’t hurt me please! I just work here!” Charlie smiled sweetly at him again.

“Could you please direct me to the bathroom? I think I need to wash up.” With a shaking hand he pointed to a set of doors opposite the waiting area.

“Oh thanks very much, have a good day!” He took one last look at Charlie as she turned to head towards the bathroom before sprinting for the exit. Looking at herself in the mirror she was in quite a state, dried blood on her cheek and some had splattered down her chin and on her hair, lathering up her hands with soap she washed the dried blood and ash from under her fingernails before cleaning her face and blonde hair. Nothing to be done about her clothes though, there was a tear down her side, she cleaned it but the fabric held onto the stain and just her bare skin was visible around a very red ring of bloodied material.

“I’ll need to get a change of clothes from dads…”

_First though,_

She pulled out her hellphone and made sure there weren't cracks or damage, she opened it up and quickly dialled Vaggie and pressed the phone to her ear. She looked at herself in the mirror as she answered.

“Charlie?”

“Hey Rainbow, just thought I’d call to let you know I had the meeting with Valentino.” 

“Oh wow, that was quick… How did it go?” Charlie could almost hear Vaggie’s grin through the phone at the new nickname she had been given, and she smiled at herself in the mirror

“Yeah It well really great, I think I got through to him about the hotel and you running the business with me.”

“That’s great hun! Is he a bastard like everyone says?” 

“He had a bit of a temper, but I held my ground and firmly told him what I wanted!” 

“I’m so proud Charlie, well done!” 

“This was all for you and me after all!”

“Oh Charlie… I love you so much!”

“I love you too Vaggie, gotta go now, lot’s to do!”

“Okay see you later at the hotel.” Charlie ended the call and placed the phone back in her pocket. Stepping back in the reception area, Charlie grinned looks like the receptionist had left a coat in their haste to get out. She took it and put it on, a dark grey windbreaker not really her style but it hid the damage to her clothes, and she left the building. 

_I’ll come back in a week and see how my boy is doing._

Her legs ached, she didn’t fancy walking any more, she dialled for a taxi instead and waited by the curb.

“I’m not lazy… just want a rest.” She told herself as she waited patiently, the warm air blew past her, she smiled looking up at the sky. When the taxi screeched into view she raised and hand and waved enthusiastically. After it stopped she got it.

“Where to?” The gruff voice asked.

“The Infernal Palace please, got to go see my dad!” The driver paused and turned around to actually look at his passenger.

“Oh SHIT! You’re alive!”

“Sure am, would you please hurry, I’m kind of in a rush today. Lots to do!” He spun back round and moved off quickly. 

“Sure Princess.” 

As the vehicle sped on she rested an elbow against the side of the door and just watched all the souls and buildings pass by. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, she had received a message from Vaggie.

**_Thinking of you x_ **

She smiled and quickly typed out a reply.

**_I’ve barely been gone half the day silly ;)_ **

A few moments later she got a response.

**_And I can’t wait to spend the rest of our days together… get back when you can, OK?_ **

Charlie closed her phone and put it in a pocket she let out a long sigh and rubbed her temples with her eyes shut. All powerful demon princess, maybe. Gets motion sick staring at a screen for longer than a few moments… definitely. She cracked open the window to let the breeze caress her face and it calmed her stomach down.

When the car finally rumbled to a halt, she paid and tipped handsomely before stepping out.

“Thanks for being so quick, I like it when someone listens!” 

“Thanks princess… it’s err, nice that you’re back.” Charlie grinned as she shut the car door behind her.

“Thank you!” With that ever present spring in her step she headed straight for the main gate, finger gunning she made a ‘bang bang’ noise at both of the gargoyles flanking the entrance to her fathers domain and the gates swung open in their usual autonomous manner. The usual crunch of gravel seemed loud today and Charlie half hopped and spun her heels into it, enjoying the very satisfying noises each movement made, it slowed her right down but who could put a pace on fun?

Eventually getting to the front entrance of the vast palace, she wanted to get dressed and see her father.

“You know, I’m not even going to bother asking, ‘Where’s dad?’ ‘Oh he’s gardening Charlie’.” She mocked her own voice and an impression of an imp, smiling as she turned ninety degrees and headed straight for the gardens. A pass by the orchard revealed Lucifer in the middle of another apple harvest. Charlie froze in place and a slow mischievous smile spread as she began to creep towards her father who had is back presented and hadn’t seem to notice her presence.

“Hello Charlotte,” He spoke without turning, reaching up and gently pulling an apple off its stalk on the tree and placing it in a basket by his feet. Charlie seemed to deflate like a balloon only a few feet from him, she had wanted to surprise him. 

“I thought I was being quiet…” She pouted.

“Nothing escapes my notice daughter, or surprises me.” Shrugging she decided to pounce anyway and jumped on his back giving him a hug around his neck. Lucifer didn’t even buckle slightly and bent down to place the next apple in the basket ignoring the extra weight tied around his neck. 

“Something’s got you in a good mood I see.” Charlie let go and slid back to the floor and took a couple of steps to the side, so she could look Lucifer in his face as he continued to tend to the apple tree. 

“I’m happy with who I am dad!” Lucifer didn’t pause and spoke calm as ever.

“Happy enough to ruin your clothes again.” Charlie still had the windbreaker on, but wasn't surprised that he knew. 

“Yeah, well he had it coming and I didn’t kill him or anything!” 

“So if you’re here to collect some more clothes, why have you come to see me?” Another apple picked and the tree was empty, picking up the basket Lucifer moved to the next tree in the row.

“I want to tell you something… and it’s important so can I have your full attention please?” Lucifer didn’t stop picking fruit.

“You always have my full attention daughter.” Charlie furrowed her brow and looked impatiently at him.

“Then could you stop? It’s distracting me, why are you always this difficult dad?” Lucifer placed another apple, straightened up and turned to Charlie.

“Very well Charlotte, what is it?” Charlie took in a deep breath suddenly nervous now that Lucifer’s eyes were locked onto her. When she spoke it was cold and collected, she just wanted it over with.

“I’m going to ask Vaggie to marry me, I don’t care if you don’t like it. It’s going to happen I just thought I’d tell you because we’re family.” Lucifer tilted his head slightly.

“Why would you think I wouldn’t approve?” Charlie shrugged, flustered.

“I dunno dad, you hardly _like_ any soul. Figured mom was probably an exception…”

“True daughter, I care very little about the damned and the wretched, but if you think it will make you happy then you have my blessing to bring someone into the family. Just know that I will only give my blessing once. Understand?” Charlie’s mouth fell open, was this a dream?

“W-Wait, Really?”

“You think me so cold Charlotte?” Tears were forming and Charlie moved in quickly and grabbed at Lucifer’s chest and cuddled her father she was grinning as tears ran down her face. 

“Thanks dad.” Lucifer reached up and wrapped his arms around Charlie’s shoulders and just held her for a few minutes under the speckled light provided by the shade of the trees. 

“That’s quite alright daughter.” He squeezed slightly and Charlie let out a contented, she paused and then spoke out quietly. 

“Dad, can I ask you something else?” Something had been playing on her mind and maybe her father would have an answer. 

“What is it my daughter?” 

“I’m trying to figure out what I inherited from you and what I got from mom…” 

“What do you mean?”

“Like… I think I got your temper… but did I get your loving side? Or was that mom…” 

“Charlotte, there’s none of me or your mother dictating your emotions, all of you… is just you.”

“But what about all of my powers?” 

“Only you can discover the true scope of what you can accomplish, my daughter, what has you thinking about it?”

“Nothing… I guess it’s fine, thanks anyway.” She parted from her father and smiled at him before wiping her face free from tears. Something seemed to flash across Lucifer’s face and a smile that Charlie hadn’t seen for years stretched across his mouth.

“Charlie do you have a ring yet?” Charlie shook her head.

“No… that was going to be next.” 

“Would you like to make one with me? Like how I made one for your mother… I think you should survive.”

_That was an odd thing to add at the end…_

“Are you suggesting we spend time together… In an activity?” She couldn’t help but tease despite being excited. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

“Well if you’re not interested Charlotte-”

“No wait! I’d love too!” Charlie groaned when Lucifer flashed his own mischievous smile at her. She had been played at her own game, no winning against her father.

“Well I can return to this later, lets go now daughter, I would keep those old clothes, the first part is messy.” Without explaining any more Lucifer pulled off his gardening apron and let it flutter to the grass next to the basket. He moved quickly and Charlie trotted to keep up. Lucifer led Charlie to the garage and opened the wide shutter doors.

“Dad, you’re leaving the palace?”

“I can leave whenever I want Charlotte.”

“Sure I just don’t know where we are going?”

“It’s a surprise daughter.” Moving through the collection of antique looking car’s Lucifer settled for a dark red 1934 Pierce-Arrow Twelve Convertible, he loved a nice looking car and waited for Charlie to sit down before turning the ignition and the modified engine roaring to life. Charlie couldn’t remember the last time her father had driven her anywhere. It must have been as a child and as the dawn of a memory came to her, realization hit hard and her face fell as she grabbed hold of anything solid and braced.

Her dad drove like a fucking maniac. 

Foot flat on the accelerator the car screeched into action as they came tearing out onto the drive. The speed at which they travelled across the gravel made Charlie unbelievably nervous, there couldn’t be any grip and it felt like they were flying and at each turn of the gravel path the back end of the car would always swing out wide as it skidded and Lucifer compensated with rapid spinning of the wheel. He was grinning like a lunatic. This was why she had taken driving lessons after she moved out, she couldn’t risk her father wanting to teach her. 

The gates were opening to allow them to exit, but they were moving too slowly and Charlie screwed her eyes shut tight. There wasn’t a clash of metal and soon the tyres settled onto actual road as they sped down the street. Charlie peeled one eye open and her heart was almost exploding in her chest. Lucifer was driving on the wrong side of the road over and undertaking every single other vehicle he encountered. She wanted to open her mouth to shout something but just all that would come out was ‘eek’ as she clutched hard into the door on her side. 

_Fuck dad, I want to live._

***

The harrowing journey finally ended far beyond the city into the wilderness that made up hells nightmarish landscape. When the engine finally turned off Charlie managed to open her eyes and loosened her grip, she felt like a nervous wreck. Lucifer had already exited the car, looking around at their surroundings they were standing before the banks of a great river made of fire and magma. Charlie shakily got out of the car and after a few steadying breaths staggered after her dad.

“This is the Phlegethon, right?” 

“That’s right Charlotte, I would leave your coat by the car…” She quickly unzipped the windbreaker and left it folder over her seat. She walked down to join her father who was standing uncomfortable close to the banks of the great river. Charlie stood a few paces behind him.”

“So you came here to make moms ring?”

“Yes, let’s start shall we?” He stepped forward and sank his ankle straight in the magma and turned to face his daughter extending out a hand.

“FUCK THAT DAD!” Lucifer took a couple more steps in carefully, it looks like the bank was steep, he had barely gone another metre before he was waist deep. Molten rock flowing past his jacket as if it was nothing more than a slow moving river. Charlie was looking at the river and back to her father, she shook her head.

“Dad, like I get that I can control fire… but I just don’t want to go plunging in here! How the fuck do I know I’m resistant to this kind of thing?”

“By trying” An honest answer but one that Charlie appreciated very little. She edged a little closer and got a full blast of the intense heat that was radiating up. 

“Some advice, daughter… I would empty your pockets first.” 

“Fuck, my phone!” Charlie dashed back to where the heat wasn’t so all consuming and took out her phone and emptied her pockets of her money. Looks like it was fine and still turned on, but she let out a long breath and left it on the floor in front of the car. She looked down at the river and edged back again until she was standing right where Lucifer was before he stepped in. Lucifer was still waiting patiently for his daughter, Charlie had started to rub her hands together nervously. It was like knowingly lowering your hand into a blender with a chance that you might be fine. 

_Come on, Charlie… he wouldn’t bring you out here just to melt you or whatever…. Just do it! Move your foot! Come on! DO IT!_

With a trembling anticipation she lifted her foot and it hovered over the surface of the river before slowly dipping a toe. 

“Ooo it’s warm dad!” Lucifer gave her a deadpan stare, Charlie scoffed, “Don’t give me that look okay!” She lowered the rest of her foot in. It was fine, a very intense heat and it felt almost tingly. She took a step forward and sank her calf down.

“So far… so goo- OH SHIT!” Something crumbled underfoot and Charlie lost balance and fell forward and splatted face first straight into the river. Scrabbling around she managed to stand up and gasp for air.

“Shit! I think I swallowed some and its in my eye!” she flicked her hand around to get it off her hands before rubbing her eye trying to clear her vision. Blinking a few times, her vision cleared and looking down she could see her bare shoulders and chest.

“Aaah!” Charlie plunged to her knees, so just her neck was sticking out “My clothes are gone!”

“Looks that way Daughter,” She spun her head round and stared at him still standing.

“WHY AREN’T YOUR CLOTHES GONE!” 

“I have better control than you, daughter, with practice I’m sure you’ll get there.” Charlie could just die of embarrassment here.

“Dad, I really loved you wanted to do some family bonding… I really do. But skinny dipping with my dad is not what I would call ‘family friendly’.” She raised two hands out from underneath the lava’s surface to do air quotes.

“Well then, it’s a good thing I can’t see through this isn’t it” Charlie found her hands moving to cover herself under the surface, she wasn’t taking the chance. Lucifer waded deeper and Charlie swam carefully behind him, she couldn’t feel the bottom any more and was paddling carefully. Lucifer acted with such grace it put Charlie’s own swimming to shame. 

“Here we are, you want to dive Charlie and find one of the rocks that rest upon the rivers bottom. I’d shut your eyes and try not get any up your nose, the sensation will be unpleasant.” 

Charlie took a long look at him before sighing, it was already bad how much worse could this get. She took a big breath and plunged her head down eyes screwed tight, trying to figure out which was down in the sluggish molten rock was difficult, but eventually she found that her hand was pressed up against the bottom of the mighty river she blindly felt around before grasping what felt like a smooth grapefruit sized rock, feeling around there was a small cluster of them, just going by touch she found one she liked more than the rest and flipping around she pushed off hard from the bottom and started to surface again. 

Head resurfacing and magma everywhere she shook her head and hands vigorously before scooping the rest off her face, so she could see and breathe. 

“Got one!” She gasped, 

“Well done Daughter,” Lucifer’s voice called out from a distance she quickly turned around and found him on the shore again, he didn’t even look like he had gone in the river and Charlie huffed in annoyance. 

“So now what?”

“Get out and I’ll show you.”

“Err Dad, I’m not getting out with you watching! What am I suppose to do I’ve just got a coat.”

Lucifer turned and walked away leaving Charlie spluttering in place. He returned half a minute later with her coat and what looked like a picnic blanket, he placed both on the floor next to her phone.

“I’ll be waiting by the car, I won’t be looking.” He turned and left. Charlie gave it a good few minutes before she paddled her way back and climbed out. Molten rock was running rivulets down her body and to start off with she spent time wiping herself down and getting it out of her hair. She didn’t dare think about what might happen if it cooled down still on her.

Giving one final inspect she was satisfied, she moved away from the banks and put the coat on first, filling her pockets with her phone and other bits she picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her middle and bunched it together tightly. She then moved up to where Lucifer was waiting back still turned towards the empty expanse of the wilderness. Charlie moved around and sat in the car seat before calling to him.

“Done, can we go… I really want to get some actual clothes on.”

“Of course, but don’t you want to know why we came out here?”

“Well, duh.” 

“The rock, please.” Lucifer held out his hand and Charlie handed over the large grey coloured stone to him. He gripped it tightly and it snapped cleanly in half, reaching his fingers in Lucifer pulled out a small dirty looking crystal from the direct centre. 

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but… is that it?” Charlie was unimpressed.

“Charlotte you need to look beyond to see the beauty, this is uncut… but look closely.” He handed it back to her and Charlie peered at the grubby looking diamond. Beyond its scratched and marred surface something glimmered inside, looking closer there was a reflection of a flame dancing around its tiny diamond prison, it was memorizing. 

“Oh… wow Dad, that’s beautiful… thank you.”

“Your quite welcome, now hold onto that dearly we’ll head back to get you some clothes.”

“Sounds go- OH SHIT DAD DON’T GO I HAVEN’T PUT ON MY SEATB- AAAAAH!” 

***

Vaggie was sat quietly reading, it was getting late in the evening and every small noise outside made her pause and look up expecting Charlie to be entering… no, just another soul passing by the corridor. She had eaten and hoped that was going to be okay with Charlie, surely being out for so long the blonde would have got some food.

_Oh god, but what if she was waiting for me!_

Vaggie felt a sudden rush of guilt, hopefully Charlie ate, well if not Vaggie could just have a small amount, she hated the thought of disappointing Charlie. Another sound of footsteps, Vaggie paused reading and looked up, then there was a jangle of keys, and she slammed her book shut and put it on the table before rushing to stand close to the door. As the door handle turned and Charlie stepped into the room she was grabbed and pulled into a kiss, the door hadn’t even been shut before Vaggie was cuddling close to her.

“Missed you…” Charlie blushed,

“And I still think you’re silly, it’s been a day.” Vaggie feigned offence.

“Are you saying I can’t miss the other half of my rainbow!” She held the pendant out to her and smiled. Charlie laughed as she closed the door,

“That’s supposed to be my line and you know it!” Vaggie leant in and kissed her again.

“Early bird gets the worm.” Charlie grabbed round her middle and stepped around her, so she could actually move into the room.

“Second mouse gets the cheese.” Vaggie laughed at Charlie’s response before moving up with her and sitting down on the bed watching Charlie empty her pockets onto her table.

“So Charlie what took you so long I thought you were only doing Valentino’s meeting and with 666 news?” Charlie smiled at the grey soul.

“I had a few other errands I had to run, went to see my dad again. I err, never got to go to 666, although I asked my dad, he said he would send them a message meaning I don’t have to… kinda relieved if I’m honest.” Vaggie got up carefully and wrapped her arms around Charlie from behind she started kissing at the side of her neck.

“Charlie, I meant to say that I _really_ missed you.” Charlie closed her eyes and hummed at the gentle and tender touch of lips.

“Vaggie…” Vaggie paused to whisper into Charlie’s ear.

“Yeah?” Charlie took a deep breath and pushed off out of Vaggie’s cuddle, she looked confused at Charlie, already pining for the contact again.

“You said you were looking forward to spending all of your days with me… did you really mean that?” Vaggie nodded and looked serious.

“Of course I did, you’re the other half of me… my soul mate, my rainbow too.” Charlie smiled and was fiddling around with something in her pocket.

“I kinda wanted to wait, but I don’t think I can… I was gonna plan something out. But they say improvisation is pretty good too, right?” Vaggie tilted her head.

“Charlie what are you talking about?” 

_Why are you getting down on one knee? What’s that in your… oh god, oh god, oh god._

Presented in Charlie’s hand was a delicate band of two twisting metals, a grey hue of platinum intertwined with rose gold, sitting in its crown was magnificently cut circular diamond that seemed to be glowing with a gentle red light.

Vaggie was shaking and had her hands covering her open mouth, was this real? Had she just fallen asleep?

Charlie cleared her throat, beads of sweat were forming on her forehead, she was unbelievably nervous.

“I think the same Vaggie… You complete a part of me I didn’t know I had until I met you and you’ve always been here for me through darkness and light… how can I do anything else now apart from want to spend the rest of my days making you as happy as you made me! Will you… Complete me? Vaggie, will you marry me?”

Vaggie tried to speak, nothing came out her hands were shaking, she tried again and just a high-pitched squeak came out,

_Oh gods, Charlie’s waiting… just say! SAY IT!_

Still nothing came out her mouth, she started to reach out her left hand towards Charlie. Tears were running down her face and giving up she just feebly nodded and waited. A blind man could have seen Charlie’s smile, as she reached out a placed the ring on Vaggie’s finger as it slipped down and past her knuckle to snugly fit in place every conceivable emotion exploded from Vaggie’s heart. She collapsed down into Charlie, was she laughing or crying? Vaggie didn’t know but had toppled over with the blonde arms wrapped around her so tightly. Her finger felt warm with the addition of a ring and she frantically placed kiss after kiss all over Charlie’s grinning face. The blonde was crying too. Vaggie finally found her voice.

“Yes, yes yes! Of course I will!... fuck you’ve really done it! This is real right?” 

“Its real!” they both laughing and holding each other before Vaggie’s stare seemed to glaze over, she kissed at Charlie’s neck again.

“I hope you’re ready because I want you, like right now, Miss fiancée” Charlie gave a coy smile as she managed to get herself up, Vaggie still grabbing all over her attempting to get her clothes off. 

“Anything for you, future Mrs Vaggie Magne,” The smile that came off Vaggie was worth all the diamonds in the world.

“Oh I’m taking your name am I? Not the other way around.” She teased playful and Charlie laughed.

“Of course you're taking my name... **_you’re mine._** ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who joined me on this creative journey, I hope you enjoyed some or all of my thoughts, even if they can get a little dark sometimes :D
> 
> When one door closes another will always open. For Now my Darker side of Hell will rest.... THIS IS A BIG FAT LIE I'M ALREADY WORKING ON THE WEDDING But who knows what the future will hold as I find inspiration in the world around me. I might return to it but it certainly isn't planned now.... AGAIN I AM LYING ALREADY PLANNING
> 
> Love each other and all of that *kisses* 
> 
> Also shameless self plug but I'm writing a separate fic regarding Lucifer and Charlie's relationship. If you enjoyed my interpretation of the mysterious character give it a read.


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